Info needed on Israeli music

[Linda Littleton <LRL...>]

My folk trio, which has played mostly traditional celtic and European
tunes for years, is now branching into Israeli and Klezmer music.  We're
about to give our first all-Jewish concert (on April 1).  It will be all
instrumental - on violin, mandolin, guitar, concertina, recorder,
hammered dulcimer, bouzouki, and piano - not all played at once (We each
play 2 or 3 instruments).

I wonder if any of you might help out by giving any information on the
Israeli tunes we'll be playing.  I think I'm ok on the Klezmer ones, as
I studied Yiddish as a kid.  Things I'd want to know are:

- translation of title
- Is the tune well known? In what context - played on radio, danced
  to, in a religious context, etc?
- What's it about?
- Who wrote it?
- Around when was it written?
- Anything else interesting we might tell an audience about it

Tunes we'll be playing are:

Hanaava Babanot
Malach Misulam Yaakov
Eretz Yisrael Yafa
V'David Y'Fe Enayim
Niguno Shel Yossi
Ma Navu
Zemer Atik
Dodi Li
Erev Shel Shoshanim
Et Dodim Kali
Bilvovi

I'm also wondering which of the instruments we play (as listed above)
are traditionally used in Israeli music.  Three in particular, which
are less common instruments -- concertina, bouzouki, and hammered
dulcimer - seem to my ear to be ideal for Israeli music.  Is there
a tradition of using these instruments in Israel?

Thanks for any insights you can give.