In 2020, 21 Israeli women were murdered by their husbands. In 2021, there are already two more.

Today, a new song by Elai Botner urges women everywhere to NOT simply accept a life of fear of violence.

As part of a new campaign against violence by WIZO, the Women’s International Zionist Organization, Botner created “Mimah At Pochedet” (What Are You Afraid Of), a hauntingly beautiful song performed with singer Moran Aharoni.

Elai Botner felt the need to speak out.

“Like any sane person in the country,” he said, “I was shocked when I saw the articles about Michal [Sela] on the news. The late Sala. The song just spilled out of me at once. Lyrics and melody. It was written out of a storm of emotions. Out of a helplessness that slowly became a frustration and also a desire to do. From there the distance to the guitar and computer was already short. It’s easier for me to express feelings with the guitar on me.
When I finished creating I put the song “in a drawer” on a hard disk.

Elai Botner: “As a man, I am also a victim”

“A few months passed, and another wave arose. The articles, this time about Shira Iscove. Again the same feelings floating and rising … And then – it hit me that I, too, as a man, was a victim here. A victim of a society in which girls, teenagers, soldiers and women walking around in fear, a victim of a society that accepts violence within it as a matter of course, of course.

“As a father to a little girl who is exposed to such stories around her, and learns to be suspicious and careful,..in such a society we are all victims. So I decided to put out the song together with WIZO to help upload the
awareness of this issue. More and more and more. We are all committed to it.”

How did Elai come to work with Moran Aharoni?

“I have no choice but to look for a singer who will crush me, because the song – produced by the huge Gilad Shmueli – demanded this. I was looking for a singer I had not yet worked with. At the end of the day I am also looking to get excited about myself. I remembered in the final season of “The Next Star” where I was first exposed to Moran. A huge, authentic singer. We need to hear more from her.”

The result is a raw, powerful, emotional song…a welcome entry into the national discourse of violence against women in Israel. Let’s hope the right people are listening.