Left-wing group demands Israeli singer cancel Jerusalem concert

“We will continue to lead the fight against the extreme left that works for [the] boycott and division of our people,” said Shai Glick, CEO of the Zionist Betzalmo organization.

By Adina Katz, World Israel News

A far-left Israeli group penned an open letter to a popular Israeli singer, urging him to cancel a planned concert in Jerusalem because the venue in which he will perform is affiliated with a Zionist group that seeks to strengthen and build the Jewish population in Israel’s capital city.

Mosh Ben Ari, a singer-songwriter and guitar player, is a well-known performer whose music contains influences from the Middle East, reggae and Western-style rock. He has served as a judge on Israel’s reality singing competition show The Voice.

Ben Ari is slated to perform at the Chava BeGai amphitheater, which is located in the Hinnom Valley, southwest of King David’s Tomb in Jerusalem, within the city’s municipal borders.

But fringe social activist group Zazim, which recently put up English-language posters in Jerusalem urging President Joe Biden to confront Prime Minister Yair Lapid about “settlers’ land grabs,” is not pleased that the Israeli musical icon will be performing at the venue.

“Chava BeGai is part of a project by the Elad association to Judaize the entire region and dispossess the Palestinians of their land,” the group charged.

The City of David Foundation, also known as Elad, seeks to strengthen and boost the Jewish population in Jerusalem via strategic land purchases, tourism and education, and archaeological excavations that prove the historical and ancient connection between Jews and Jerusalem.

“How can you sing about love and freedom, in a place that is all about expropriation and robbery? We call on you to cancel your participation in this show, and not to support this injustice.”

Zazim also launched a petition which aims to receive 600 signatures from people opposed to Ben Ari’s performance at Chava BeGai.

“It turns out that the extreme left denies the connection of the Jewish people to Jerusalem,” said Shai Glick, CEO of the Zionist Betzalmo organization, in a statement.

“We are sure that Mosh Ben Ari will not submit to extreme leftist elements that are funded by foreign [bodies] and will put on a great performance…An overwhelming majority of Israeli citizens are proud of Jerusalem and are not prepared to have it shared with any other nation or country.

“We will continue to lead the fight against the extreme left that works for [the] boycott and division of our people.”