The word "homeward" has been chosen by thousands of internet users as the Hebrew Language Academy's word of the year. The Academy announced that "artificial intelligence" (AI) came in second place, and "hope" in third. Last year, the Academy's word of the year was "hostages," against the backdrop of the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip and the dozens of hostages held captive by Hamas until they were released, some during the deal in January of last year and others as part of the agreement in October. In previous years, the winning words were "sinkhole," "trolling" and "blurred." This year, as mentioned, the word "homeward" (habayta) took first place (25%).