Israel

Israel is a stand-alone single, not on a studio album, released by Polydor on November 28, 1980 as POSP 205 (7-inch) and POSPX 205 (12-inch), between Kaleidoscope and Juju. It is credited to Siouxsie Sioux, Steven Severin, John McGeoch and Peter Clarke, known as Budgie, and was produced by Nigel Gray and the band. The A-side runs 4:54, the B-side is Red Over White at 4:31, and it was the first Banshees single to also come out on 12-inch. It reached number 41 in the UK and number 73 on the US Billboard dance chart as an import.

It was written while the band toured Europe in the autumn of 1980, aiming at a Christmas release, which was unusual for them since they rarely composed on the road. The backing vocals are by a choir of about thirty Welsh singers. The recording date and studio for this single were not found; the Kaleidoscope sessions, in January to May 1980 at Rockfield's Coach House, Surrey Sound in Leatherhead and Polydor in London, belong to the album, not necessarily to this single.

After the single

It was on the compilation Once Upon a Time/The Singles in December 1981, was remastered in 2002 for The Best of Siouxsie and the Banshees, and is the one bonus track on the 2006 Kaleidoscope reissue. Some US PVC copies of Juju included a free copy of the single. Admirers include Jean-Benoit Dunckel of Air, who listed it among his ten favorite songs, and Ride, who used it on their intro tape. No reliable source for the meaning of the lyric turned up, and none is given here.

It was a regular encore on each Banshees tour. Siouxsie performed it solo at Cruel World in Pasadena on May 21, 2023, as the final song of the second encore, her first performance since Yoko Ono's Meltdown Festival in 2013; Stereogum's report names the Rose Bowl as the venue, while its setlist link points to Brookside Park, which is unresolved. The upload on hypersongs is the VEVO channel's official music video; whether its audio is the 1980 single mix or a remaster is not stated.