Israel Ambassador to India Noar Gilon has taken to microblogging site X, formerly, Twitter to share an audio clip of a Bollywood song that sounds similar to the Israeli National Anthem. The audio clip of the patriotic song, 'Mera Mulk Mera Desh' from Ajay Devgn's 1996 film 'Diljale', composed by music director Anu malik has gone viral. Notably, the tune of the song sounds exactly like Israel's national anthem titled Hatikvah. 


"Today I discovered a beautiful Indian patriotic melody that deeply touched me. I couldn't help but notice the uncanny resemblance to Israel's national anthem, ‘Hatikvah,’ in the harmonious notes and cadence. Yet, it was the lyrics, ‘Mera desh mera mulk mera ye watan, shanti ka unnati ka pyaar ka chaman,’ that resonated in my heart like a beacon of hope and unity," read the caption of the  audio clip shared by the Israeli Ambassador along with the national flags of India and Isreal.






According to the International Fellowship Of Christian And Jews, a young Jewish poet named Naftali Herz Imber lived in the town of Zolochiv, a once thriving Jewish community which now sits in Ukraine. Imber dreamed of someday leaving Zolochiv and making aliyah (immigrating to the Holy Land) and penned some words about his dream in 1878, a poem he titled "Tikvatenu" (“Our Hope”).


In 1895, after Imber passed away, educator David Yellin, who founded the Hebrew language committee, and later Leib Matmon Cohen, headmaster of the Rishon Hebrew School, changed the words which became "Hatikvah", according to a report in The Jerusalem Post.


The first stanza of Hatikvah is sung as the national anthem adopted by Israel in 1948.


The video shared by Israel envoy has gone viral with close to 6 lakh views and 16.6k likes. While some took to the comments box to praise the song and the wonderful lyrics, others pointed towards how Anu Malik took inspiration from the Israeli national anthem to compose the music of 'Mera Mulk Mera Desh' song.


"Just played Israel national anthem, it has a close rhythmic tunes," commented one user.


"I like this song very much... When I found out that its tune was taken from Israel's national anthem, then I started listening to Israel's national anthem. I like Israel national anthem," wrote another user.


While a third commented, "Annu Malik plagiarized it! That is so sad. We apologize on his behalf."