Hanan Ben Ari

Hanan Ben Ari (; born 8 April 1988) is an Israeli singer, songwriter, and composer. His debut album, Izun (Balance), released 21 February 2016, was certified gold in Israel with 15,000 copies sold in three months and received heavy radio play on Galgalatz. He has been noted as one of relatively few religious artists, including Ishay Ribo and Nathan Goshen, who have found success in the secular Israeli mainstream. Early life Ben Ari grew up in Karnei Shomron, the fifth of six siblings; his father works in the financial sector of Bat Yam, while his mother works in special education. Hanan sang in choirs from the age of six, learned keyboard from age 12, and began composing music at age 13. In 2013, he collaborated with musicians Yaakov Asraf and Nir Rubin on an educational stage musical called Mitbagrim (“Growing Up”), which ran for over 100 performances. Ben-Ari’s debut single, Mimecha Ad Elay (“From You to Myself”), was announced by his uncle in November 2014. The song, whose lyrics reference Song of Songs and other Jewish scripture, was added to the Galgalatz daily playlist, Several of his subsequent singles were also placed in heavy rotation on Galgalatz, Ben-Ari’s debut album, I