Gali Atari, Eden Ben-Zaken to headline Independence Day celebration
The duo will perform Israel's 1979 Eurovision winning song, 'Hallelujah,' which Atari originally performed.
By AMY SPIROUpdated: APRIL 10, 2018 14:55Eden Ben-Zaken (L) and Gali Atari (R)(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
On Israel’s 70th anniversary, we’re going to party like it’s 1979.Culture and Sport Minister Miri Regev announced Wednesday that Gali Atari will be singing her classic hit song “Hallelujah” – alongside pop star Eden Ben-Zaken – at the state’s official Independence Day celebration this year.Atari won the Eurovision competition in 1979 when she performed “Hallelujah” with Milk & Honey when Israel hosted the competition. This year, Atari, 64, will perform a duet with the 23-year-old Ben-Zaken, who is one of the most popular current singers in Israel.“I’m happy that Gali Atari and Eden Ben-Zaken will perform ‘Hallelujah’ together to open the 70th anniversary celebrations,” said Regev. “I see great importance in the inter-generational connection between these two amazing artists.”Ben-Zaken herself said she was “happy that Atari will be joining in singing this song. As soon as they asked me to participate I immediately said I would be overjoyed to take part.”And who deserves the credit for this upcoming duet?Ron Carmi, the artistic director of the Independence Day celebrations, said in a Galatz interview Wednesday morning that they had previously requested Atari take part but had not been able to come to an agreement.According to Yediot Aharonot, it intervened with the planning committee when it heard that Ben-Zaken was asked to sing the song alone and convinced them to include Atari. According to Regev, she personally intervened with Atari a second time and convinced her to take part in the celebrations.Whichever version you believe, Israelis are sure to be tuning in to a duet to remember.
