Education Minister Naftali Bennett informed Naomi Polani, "the mother of the military bands," of her winning the Israel Prize in theater and dance. Polani is a singer, actress, and musical producer, identified mainly as the director of the army bands at the beginning of their path, and as the founder and director of the "Tarnegolim" and "Hamtzitzim" bands. Bennett said that "her rich cultural work has given us dozens of works of dance, theater and music. Naomi, who in the War of Independence was one of the stars of the Palmach, is a true cultural fighter. Daring, creative, and Zionist." The prize committee stated in its arguments that "Naomi Polani has been a creative artist for many years, a pioneer in her personality and in her fields of activity, in the voice and movement in Hebrew words, the words on the stage, the words in Hebrew song. Polani discovered, guided, and educated generations of actors and dancers and did so with rare humor, in her unique language, with a deep understanding of the stage art that she became a work of art herself."
