First of all, thank you. Thank you for the privilege and the exciting position. Thank you to Ran, the perfect partner, for the exciting performance together, and for this moment.
A week ago I was asked, would you shake the president's hand? And I thought about it deeply. After all, there is a clash here between two values that are clear to me and deeply engraved in my soul, maintaining contact -
Which for me comes from both a religious place, and also from a place that many will not understand, when since the age of 16.5 I have been exposed to so many people and I have a desire to protect myself in a certain way through clothing and touch.
I have never touched drugs, I have never gone on stage drunk, you have never seen me disrespect anyone. Nobility and human dignity are fundamental values that I was raised on and that I will raise my children on in the future.
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I ask everyone who claimed that I have no manners to take back their words and apologize, not to me, but to my parents. They are the ones responsible for my upbringing and they receive an image on the street that is light years removed from reality on social media. Everyone hugs them and asks to give me love. It's easier to make bonfires online, because you can't see them. But there's an entire house behind me and two parents who are dear to me, so please.
In contrast to the second value - of not whitewashing a person's face in public. I decided at the end of a long internal discussion to announce explicitly: I am keeping my word and will not be able to break my word. What will all those whose hands I refused to shake say? That I have no word?
I consulted a lot on how to do this in the most respectful way, and please believe me... I'm a terribly sensitive person. My stomach turned more from this fear of embarrassing him than from the magnitude of the situation.
And I realized that His Excellency the President himself had explicitly asked not to touch him or take pictures with him. I calmed down.
Still, I followed the updates religiously from the moment he landed in Israel. My mind was at ease when I was informed that Lair Lapid did not shake hands, and that he shook hands with many other senior officials, but I was again stressed when he hugged the dear Holocaust survivors.
I didn't sleep all night, my heart was beating at two hundred, and I said to myself: Tomorrow when you arrive at the President's House for the dress rehearsal - emphasize to everyone again that you are keeping your distance, so that it will be clear and you won't embarrass anyone!
And that's what I did. The president's spokesman, the CEO of the President's Office, public relations, all the employees and officials in the President's Office, and there's also a joke that even the olive trees in the President's Office know - that Yuval Dayan keeps a touch.
Only after I made sure, nearly 500 times, that everyone knew and understood, and that no mishap would come from me, and I assure you, dear followers, that I was less nervous about the size of the crowd than I was about this handshake. It scared me so much that I would have to embarrass someone, no matter how big they were, in front of everyone, was I calm and confident that it would be okay.
And even if something happens, you will understand me.
Anyone who has known me since the age of 0 knows that I didn't do it on purpose and I've never liked getting into public hysterics.
I left the stage excited and went to another show,
I was simply shocked by the intensity of the storm I entered...
And now I ask you. Religious, secular, Jewish, Christian, Muslim, leftist, rightist, after watching the video, would my body language seem condescending or appreciative to you?
Did I behave brutally on stage, did I humiliate the President of the United States? Did I, look at his face 3 times and blush, did I whitewash his face in public?!?!?!?
Throughout the entire performance of the song, I smiled at him, and my eyes radiated unity. I was there at that moment on stage, and it went by naturally and comfortably.
And another question: If I had shaken his hand and gone against my principles, would you really have appreciated me more? What would the headlines have been then, "Only Religious Sometimes," "Religious in Her Own Mind?"
Again: I made sure and emphasized to everyone that no handshake would be allowed, I asked Mr. Danker to back me up on stage and extend a hand in my place.
The only thing I regret is that my name is associated with the controversy. I write this with tears and ask you in every word of request, if you see any more fire around this issue - just don't participate. Don't respond and let the issue fade on its own.
My goal is to do good. I sing from my heart and soul. I simply don't know how to lie, neither to myself nor to the President of the United States. I apologize to anyone who felt embarrassed, I repeat that I had no intention of hurting anyone, and I know that if the media hadn't sampled this moment and made it headlines, it would have passed through your throats as smoothly and intuitively as possible. Because you know me.
I was raised on beautiful and precious values and principles. I love you and appreciate all the thousands of messages and phone calls I have received, whether from religious or secular institutions, international women's organizations that understand that a woman's body is hers, and ordinary people like you and me.
Please, let's put this behind us. If only.
• From Yuval Dayan's Facebook
