Hanan Ben Ari is an Israeli music superstar. Born in the religious village of Karnei Shomron and having studied in several Religious Zionist yeshivas, he still managed to become a crossover hit among Israel's secular public.
Ben Ari cemented his position in the Israeli music scene this past year, when one of his songs, 'Tutim' (strawberries) was named ‘song of the year’ in the Israeli annual Hebrew song chart which aired on Army Radio.
Ben Ari's latest single 'Wikipedia' caused a storm among the religious public when it was recently released. In the song, he begs the public not to look at him as a representative of the larger religious community, and implores the public not to believe in stereotypes.
"Erase everything you knew about me up to this point," Ben Ari sings. "No, I am not a settler, not a representative of God, not someone who segregates women, not a bridge between the societal sectors."
The song caused a storm in the religious community. Many thought that Ben Ari was trying to hide his affiliation with the Religious Zionist community, criticism that he rebuffed.
"Stop putting people in a cage and saying, 'He's religious, he makes music for the religious and he does music that deals only with religious issues," Ben Ari said.