The father of famous Israeli singer Eyal Golan passed away on Sunday at the age of 71 at the Hillel Yaffe Medical Center in Hadera, following a battle with the coronavirus.
Daniel (Danny) Bitton was hospitalized while being anesthetized and respirated for a week due to complications with the virus, but was not able to pull through in the end. The sister of Eyal, Maya Golan, made the announcement of his passing on Sunday.
Maya wrote on Instagram regarding the death of his father, saying "Baruch Dayan Ha'amet."
Also attached was an obituary of Danny, which was tagged on Eyal, who had severed ties with his father following the "Board Games" affair, a major scandal by which Eyal and his father were arrested as part of a group of men suspected of having sex with underage girls. While charges against Eyal were eventually dropped, his father was convicted of the sex crime.
Eyal reportedly arrived at the cemetery in Or Akiva to pay respects to his father, but did not attend to funeral itself, and remained outside the walls of the cemetery to say kaddish.
Eyal Golan is one of Israel's most well-known singers, made popular by his role as the face of Mizrahi music (Eastern/Oriental) in the country.