Israeli music is heavily influenced by Jewish immigrants from over 120 countries, who brought to Israel their musical tradition when they immigrated here. The large diversity in their origins reflects in the large diversity in Israeli musical styles. Within Israeli music you can find almost all genres of music from Pop to Jewish music, from Folk to Middle-Eastern music. Israel in music is a little like Israel in food - it has it all.
The history of Jewish Israeli music began when the first Zionists settled in the land of Israel back in the 1920s. They used to write Hebrew folk songs based on borrowed melodies from the country they came from - Russian melodies (like the song "livlevu Agas vegam Tapuh") - German melodies and even old Jewish folk melodies. However, these settlers wanted to create a new musical style that would be different from the borrowed music they used and to be in Hebrew and more distinctive. The new style of music they developed was borrowed from other origins as well, such as of Arab origin and Yemenite music. Examples to this new musical style can be found in songs like "Shadmati" by Yedidia Admon and "Shibolet Basateh" by Matityahu Shelem.
However, in spite of the new settlers attempt to develop an original style of Israeli music, many of the composers of that era still wrote melodies and songs based on their origin like Russia and Slavic countries. Some composers managed to write different songs using both trends, like the famous Mordechai Zeira with "Hayu Leilot", Moshe Vilenski and David Zehavi with "Hechalil".
After the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, the Israeli leadership and the Labor organization in Israel wanted to develop an Israeli style of music that would contribute more to the national identity and would also help in teaching Hebrew to the new immigrants that were arriving in Israel. In order to develop and encourage the new Israeli style of music, the labor organization organized public sing-along evenings with special song books they had printed. One more important aspect that grew after Israel's creation is now almost