Hebrew name for US "Lands of the Covenant" remains mystery Aaron Lerner Date: 11 January 2005 The United States is called "Lands of the Covenant" (Artzot Habrit) in Hebrew. It is commonly thought that this name was given in order to avoid confusion with the Hebrew name for the United Nations. IMRA asked Israel Radio's "Moment of Hebrew" program for the source of the name. They find that the term appears in Hebrew papers as early as 1857 - in the Hamagid L'Israel weekly.