Israelis chose the Hebrew word for “homecoming” as the word of the year, the Academy of the Hebrew Language announced Thursday.
The Academy asked the public for suggestions for words that summarized the previous year, offering 10 candidate words. Thousands of members of the public responded, with habaita — meaning “homecoming” or “homeward,” — coming in first, with 25 percent.
The word symbolized the return of all hostages from Gaza, with the exception of Police Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, whose body remains in the Strip.
It also symbolized the return home of some residents of towns near the Gaza and Lebanon borders that were ravaged or otherwise evacuated amid the multifront war, amid hope for the return of the rest, the Academy said in a Facebook post.
In second place was “artificial intelligence,” with 15.2% of the votes, while “hope,” with 14.6%, came in third.
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The other options, each of which earned between 5% and 8% of the vote, were: “conscription,” “investigation,” “trauma,” “normalization,” “Rising Lion,” “returnees,” and “rehabilitation,” reflecting another year of war for Israel.
“Rising Lion” was the name of Israel’s 12-day war with Iran.
A woman reacts as people celebrate at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv as news came out that Hamas had already handed over seven surviving hostages to the Red Cross on October 13, 2025. (Menahem Kahana / AFP)
The survey was part of an annual celebration of Hebrew Language Day, on the 21st of the Jewish month of Tevet, marking the birthday of Eliezer Ben-Yehuda (1858-1922), remembered as the main reviver of the ancient language as a day-to-day spoken tongue. The holiday was established by the Knesset in 2012.
The choice of “homecoming” marked an optimistic turn in light of 2024’s choice — hatufim, meaning “hostages.”
Other options in last year’s vote included “reserve duty,” “together,” and “approved for publication” — the latter phrase familiar from news reports of a soldier’s death in battle.
Habaita seemed to fulfill the academy’s wish at the time, that “next year, we’ll be considering words that represent happiness and peace, and until then, we’re waiting for the swift return of all the hostages from captivity and the safe return of all our soldiers from battle.”
People gather at ‘Hostages Square’ in Tel Aviv on October 11, 2025, to celebrate the agreement signed between Israel and Hamas for a hostage-prisoner exchange deal based on a 20-point plan proposed by US President Donald Trump. (Jack Guez / AFP)
Hamas-led terrorists abducted 251 people to Gaza during their invasion and massacres in southern Israel on October 7, 2023. The last 20 living hostages were returned on October 13, 2025, and the bodies of all remaining deceased hostages, except for Gvili’s, have been returned since then.
Most of the hostages had already been freed amid two deals with Hamas, which also included ceasefires and Israel’s release of security prisoners and detainees (numbering thousands in total between the three agreements).
Reflecting Israelis’ initial shock after the October 7 onslaught, the Academy didn’t offer a word of the year for 2023.
In 2022, the word “sinkhole” (bolan) was chosen, and in 2021, tirlul, a newly minted word for a traditional Mideast celebratory noise at weddings. In 2020, reflecting the raging coronavirus pandemic, the word of the year was “throat swab” (matosh).
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