Singer. Called the "War Singer", she shall be remembered for literally countless performances for Israeli military troops. Born Yaffa Abramov at Giv'at Rambam in what was then British Palestine, she studied ballet as a young girl and married for the first time in her teens though her husband was to be killed during 1945 combat in Italy. Yaffa wed Shaike Yarkoni in 1948 and during that same year's War of Independence joined an Israel Defense Forces song troupe. In the late 1940s she had success as a ballroom singer though her name was to be made by her military concerts at which the soldiers would sing along. Yaffa was always to be called upon for her signature pieces including "Road to Jerusalem", dealing with the 1948 siege, and "Don't Say Goodbye, Say I Love You" which tells of a young man leaving his girl. At the conclusion of the 1967 War she sang at the Western Wall and every year her voice was broadcast on Israel's Memorial Day. Presented the Israel Prize in 1998 for her contributions she was to be severely censured for her 2002 public comparison of Israeli treatment of the Palestinians to the Holocaust, criticism that abated when it was realized that she had been suffering with Alzheimer's Disease since 2000. Progression of her illness finally forced Yaffa's retirement in 2007; at her death a number of albums documenting her art were available.
Singer. Called the "War Singer", she shall be remembered for literally countless performances for Israeli military troops. Born Yaffa Abramov at Giv'at Rambam in what was then British Palestine, she studied ballet as a young girl and married for the first time in her teens though her husband was to be killed during 1945 combat in Italy. Yaffa wed Shaike Yarkoni in 1948 and during that same year's War of Independence joined an Israel Defense Forces song troupe. In the late 1940s she had success as a ballroom singer though her name was to be made by her military concerts at which the soldiers would sing along. Yaffa was always to be called upon for her signature pieces including "Road to Jerusalem", dealing with the 1948 siege, and "Don't Say Goodbye, Say I Love You" which tells of a young man leaving his girl. At the conclusion of the 1967 War she sang at the Western Wall and every year her voice was broadcast on Israel's Memorial Day. Presented the Israel Prize in 1998 for her contributions she was to be severely censured for her 2002 public comparison of Israeli treatment of the Palestinians to the Holocaust, criticism that abated when it was realized that she had been suffering with Alzheimer's Disease since 2000. Progression of her illness finally forced Yaffa's retirement in 2007; at her death a number of albums documenting her art were available.
Bio by: Bob Hufford
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