Weekly Kibbitz
Israeli Pop Star Declines Shaking Joe Biden’s Hand
F or the first day of Joe Biden’s
visit to Israel, the buzz about
handshakes was that, despite a
pandemic-related plan, he was giving
them at all.

That changed on July 14. That’s
when Yuval Dayan, an Israeli pop
star, left the president hanging after
Biden extended his hand to her.

Dayan and another singer named
Ran Danker had just performed a ren-
dition of the classic song “Lu Yehi,”
or “Let it Be,” at a ceremony mark-
ing Biden’s receipt of Israel’s high-
est civilian honor. Afterward, Biden
and Israeli President Isaac Herzog
approached the artists to thank them.

Danker took Biden’s outstretched
hand, but Dayan bowed instead,
clasping her hands together and
smiling. What Biden didn’t know was that
Dayan has committed to refrain from
touching members of the oppo-
site sex. She is famous in Israel in
part for becoming more religiously
U.S. President Joe Biden and Israeli President Isaac Herzog speak with Israeli
singers Yuval Dayan and Ran Dankner during a ceremony at the President’s
Residence in Jerusalem on July 14. 
Yonatan Sindel/Flash90 via JTA
observant, embracing the principle
of shomer negiah, a prohibition on
opposite-sex touching that some
Orthodox Jews believe is required,
as well as not performing on Shabbat
or Jewish holidays.

The prohibition is rooted in the
idea that any touch can lead to sex-
ual impropriety. The refusal to shake
women’s hands of an Orthodox
European Parliament candidate in
2014 caused a minor political crisis.

Meanwhile, when Tzipi Hotovely, an
Orthodox lawmaker, gained author-
ity over Israel’s Foreign Ministry in
2015, she said she would shake
hands with men who offered her
theirs despite ordinarily refraining
from touch. She noted that tradi-
tional Jewish law makes allowances
for honoring dignitaries.

“It’s not a problem at all,” Hotovely
told Israeli media at the time. “When
someone meets foreign represen-
tatives the Jewish halacha [law]
recognizes respect, etiquette and
politeness.” The incident with Biden went viral
in Israel. Dayan, who came to fame
as a contestant on Israel’s version of
“The Voice,” said she had sought to
avoid appearing to slight Biden and
had communicated her needs to
Herzog’s staff.

“I made sure to notify everyone in
the president’s office that I am shom-
eret negiah,” she said, according to
Israeli media. “God forbid, I did not
mean to offend.”
— Caleb Guedes-Reed
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