Mizrahi pop star Sarit Hadad, who came out of the closet as a lesbian via a video clip for a new song on Sunday and was embraced by fans and well-wishers, has the most conservative fan base among Israeli entertainers who have opened up about being part of the LGBTQ community so far, indicating that Israeli society has changed for good.
Hadad, 43, revealed that she is in a relationship with Tamar Yahalomi, who co-wrote the song, “A Love Like Ours,” with Hadad’s longtime writing partner, Yonatan Kalimi, which the singer performs in the clip that Hadad released on her Instagram account on Sunday to her nearly 200,000 followers.
It shows a number of loving, heterosexual couples who look as if they are meant to represent Hadad’s typical fans, enjoying her music, and at the end, as the sun sets, Hadad sits down on a bench overlooking the sea with Yahalomi and rests her head on her partner’s shoulder, an obviously romantic image.
The clip generated an overwhelmingly supportive media storm and, because of Hadad’s popularity with Mizrahi music lovers, who are seen as one of the most conservative groups in Israel, represents a sea change in Israeli society.
Hadad’s sexual identity has long been subject to speculation in the Israeli media, especially since she had her first child at age 38. Hadad refused to disclose the father’s identity, giving rise to rumors the child may have been conceived from a sperm donation. Two years ago, Hadad gave birth to a second daughter.
In a column on Ynet, Avi Shoshan called Hadad’s sexual orientation “the best-known secret in the State of Israel; the most important coming-out-of-the-closet ever done here.”
In his piece, Shoshan attributes Hadad’s decision to come out to the fact that she parted ways from her longtime agent, Avi Guetta, more than a year ago. When Shoshan interviewed Hadad several years ago and asked her about having a baby via a sperm donation, Guetta pressured him not to use the question in his article, he said.
While there are a number of other high-profile Mizrahi stars who have been out of the closet for years, including Harel Skaat, Dana International and Corinne Allal, none has enjoyed quite the same kind of mainstream pop success as Hadad.
Gal Uchovsky, an LGBTQ activist, movie producer, screenwriter and television personality, told The Jerusalem Post: “Her coming out is important, of course. She comes from the very popular section of music that is supposedly less tolerant. But it’s not groundbreaking. It’s too late. The train has long left the station. We have a proud gay health minister, a soccer referee who came out as trans and out-of-the-closet gay teenagers who create TikTok stories with the new prime minister. So let’s say it’s ‘just’ a very happy moment for her and the community.”
“I have not been touched the way you touched me in years, what is inside cannot be explained even by a thousand songs, as soon as you came every moment with you beats everything in life,” Hadad sings in the clip.
“You touched me, Sarit Hadad, you certainly touched me,” said Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz on Twitter, to whom Uchovsky referred in his statement. “It is so important what you are saying to your girls and to everyone: Anyone can be what they want, with who they want and how they want.”
נגעת בי, שרית חדד, בהחלט נגעת בי. וכל כך חשוב מה שאת אומרת לבנות שלך ולכולם: כל אחת יכולה להיות מה שהיא רוצה, עם מי ואיך שהיא רוצה. חיבוק גדול. pic.twitter.com/vcXVtQVDB1
— Nitzan Horowitz نيتسان هوروفيتس ניצן הורוביץ (@NitzanHorowitz) September 19, 2021
Many celebrities took to social media to express their support, including Uchovsky, actress and model Yael Goldman Pfeffer, actor Niv Nissim and dozens of others.
Hadad wrote on Instagram: “A new song, written and performed from the blood of my heart. The new clip shows love from my perspective on the world and myself. Now that my daughters are growing up quickly with curious eyes, I’m happy to show them the possibility to be just what they want to be, and to teach them that freedom, time and choice are above all. In the place where my career and my family merge – that’s a complete moment for me.”
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She has collaborated with countless Israeli musicians, including Shimon Buskila, Ehud Manor, Tzvika Pik, Subliminal, Ivri Lider and Eyal Golan. She mentored on the popular music show “The Voice” and won several awards for her 23 albums.
Hadad’s musical repertoire includes the iconic songs “Lech Habaita Moti” (Go Home, Moti), “K'mo Cinderella” (Like Cinderella), “Hagiga” (Celebration) and “Bachom shel Tel Aviv” (In the Heat of Tel Aviv).
The singer’s parents descend from the Mountain Jews of Dagestan, a group that identifies as Mizrahi. They moved to Israel a few years before Hadad’s birth.
“Hadad is no longer afraid to lose because, at the present time, there is nothing to lose. Coming out of the closet is just reinventing her career,” Shoshan wrote.
Jerusalem Post staff and Maariv online contributed to this report.