Singer-songwriter Ehud Banai announced just before the Sukkot holiday that he would be performing at Susiya on Sunday after all, and apologized for an earlier decision to cancel the show. The cancellation came after intense pressure from the the political left, which believes that Susiya, in the Har Hevron area, is illegally occupied land.
He will perform alongside another famous singer, Boaz Sharabi, who announced that he would perform at Susiya instead of Banai, when Banai cancelled.
On his Facebook page, Banai said: “To my great sorrow, we published a status message here that caused pain to a large public. I want to ask for forgiveness from the bottom of my heart, from anyone who was hurt by this. I wanted to come to the performance at Susiya, despite my views, in order to create dialogue and connection through the music. I have never boycotted, that is not my way.”
Banai said that the original decision to cancel the performance was made in conjunction with Har Hevron Regional Council Head Tzviki Bar Hai, “because of the bad atmosphere” that formed around it. “In retrospect, we now understand that the announcement about not holding the performance created unnecessary and painful discord.”
Banai announced that he and the organizers have decided to hold the show at the date and hour originally set, together with another performace by Sharabi, “in order to give a message of brotherhood, in the spirit of Sukkot.”