"Chayalim" means soldiers.

The original Hebrew and translated English versions by The Weavers make for an interesting contrast. When they sang in Hebrew, a language that was not widely spoken outside of Israel or diaspora synagogues in the late-forties and early-fifties, they sang the original version of the song, which celebrated the 1948 military victory of the overwhelmed little army of the new country of Israel over the combined forces of seven Arab countries. But when the Weavers did a version in English, a language that their audience understood, the soldiers were censored out of the song.