Esther Shamir Laid to Rest in Herzliya

Esther Shamir, one of the most influential figures in Israeli music, was laid to rest on Friday at the new cemetery in Herzliya, after dying at 71 following a battle with cancer. About 200 people attended the funeral, including her husband Ofer Weintraub, her former husband Ephraim Shamir, and fellow artists such as Gali Atari, Rivka Michaeli, Dani Sanderson, Miki Gavrielov, Miki Kם, Yehuda Eder, Yaakov Gilad, Kobi Oshrat, Yoav Ginai, Doron Medalie, Ronit Shahar, actress Idit Teperson, musician Reuven Gvartz, lyricist Hamutal Ben Zeev, and representatives of the Kaplan protest movement, in which she was active.

Despite her illness in recent years, Shamir continued to create and record. In her last interview with Yedioth Ahronoth a few weeks ago, she said the cancer had returned “violently and extensively,” but she still refused to give up writing. “I don’t want to say this is my last song because I will continue to write,” she said, adding that she did not see herself recording or performing again “unless a great miracle suddenly happens here.”

Shamir was widely regarded as a bold and groundbreaking writer, composer and singer in Israeli music. She was known for love songs as well as songs of war and protest, including “I Just Passed By to See” and “In the Lowest Place in Tel Aviv.” She began in the Nahal ensemble and released her first solo album, “In the Lowest Place in Tel Aviv,” in 1982, a work considered a milestone in Israeli female rock. Over the years she also wrote and composed for Gali Atari, Rita, Yehuda Poliker, Harel Skaat and Shlomo Artzi, and sang with Artzi on “An Unnecessary Covenant.”