There can be few pop stars on the planet for whom the word “freedom” is more meaningful.
Renowned Israeli singer Rita, born in Tehran to a Persian Jewish family, has long championed ordinary Iranians’ fight against oppression – and has a large following in the Islamic Republic.
But during the Gaza hostage crisis, that message of hope and liberation gained a remarkable new power.
Rita told the JC that Mehake, a song she wrote 20 years ago, had been sung by hostages while they were held in tunnels, desperately hoping to be freed.
Omer Shem Tov, abducted by terrorists at the Nova festival and released in February 2025, was said to have sung Mehake repeatedly to himself.
Rita, who is due to perform in London when it is safe to travel from her home in Israel, said: “One female hostage who went through hell there wrote the song lyrics all the time on the tunnel wall. It’s become like a prayer, an anthem to give people strength, hope and comfort. I really feel privileged.”
The singer was inspired to write Mehake on a morning drive in Tel Aviv, when she observed worried expressions on the faces of passers-by. Some of the lyrics read: “One day it will happen/ Without noticing it/ Something will change/ Something will calm in us/ Something will touch us/ And there will be nothing to fear.”
“Immediately, Mehake became a song of hope that people listened to and sang whenever they needed comfort, hope and something to look forward to. And since October 7, its meaning of hope has been amplified,” she said.
Another song, Kchi Lach, was written originally as a letter for her daughter, Meshi Kleinstein, who was about to embark on a long trip after completing her army service. Meshi responded with a verse she wrote herself, and the song became a duet. “Sadly, a mother told me that on October 7, her daughter – a soldier who fought against terrorists to protect the younger soldiers – was killed. Kchi Lach was their song, and the mother sang it at her daughter’s funeral.”
Often championed as the “queen of Israeli music”, Rita began her career in 1980 in a group during her IDF service, and went on to release multiple platinum albums and compete for Israel in the 1990 Eurovision song contest.
Born Rita Yahan-Farouz in Tehran, she immigrated with her family to Israel, near Tel Aviv, in 1970 when she was eight years old, nine years before the Islamic Revolution. As an Israeli she has never been allowed to return to the land of her heritage.
Rita said: “I remember the colours, the smells, the tastes, the landscape of Iran. It is a very beautiful country.
“The Iran I remember and grew up in, the Shah wanted to make a very modern European country. The Shah had a great relationship with the Israelis.” She hopes to return one day to her native country with her sisters and mother. We all want to go back, to eat the food there and visit Tehran, where we grow up. I think for all Persian people, this is their wish and ambition. If we go there, it means that the regime has been changed, and that the darkness in the world from that regime has come to an end, and we in Israel no longer have this threat and can live in a better world.”
Rita released My Joys, an album in her native language Farsi, in 2012, and gained many Iranian fans.
Until a few years ago, they were still contacting her to tell her how her music impacted them.
“[After the Islamic Revolution of 1979] all the female singers had to run away, because it’s forbidden there to hear women. And when I released My Joys, it was amazing. People in Iran got it from the internet, they sold it at the markets and it became a hit there.
“They heard it secretly in their homes, at parties, and tried to connect with me and write how much they love the music, how they love me, they love Israel, and they don’t want anything bad to happen to Israel, and they hope they could one day come to my concert. Me being Jewish, a woman and Israeli, is all a big no for the regime.”
Rita has long spoken out in support of Iranians, women especially, championing their fight against oppression and calling for peace.
Rita performing at the United Nations General Assembly[Missing Credit]
During a concert in Jerusalem in January, she delivered a moving message of solidarity in Farsi.
“Iran, I and all the people of Israel stand with you with hope for freedom,” she told the crowd. She continues to hope that revolution will end the regime.
“My music was making a hole in the great wall between the two countries, to reach the people of Iran.
“The people are really aching and hoping for freedom. People don’t want this regime.
“When I meet Iranians outside of Israel, they always ask me, ‘Can you take us with you? We don’t want to go back.’
“We want peace for people. We know how much they suffer. And the second very important thing is that [the Islamic Republic of Iran] won’t be a threat on my country, and on my people, because they want to destroy us.
“Hamas and Hezbollah – it’s their goal to destroy Israel. People don’t understand that the threat is not only for Israel, and Jews – it’s everyone.”
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