Hanan Yovel

A Once-in-80-Years Event:

“Tonight Is Songs”

Israel’s leading creators and artists will gather for a festive tribute evening marking Hanan Yuval’s 80th birthday.

Participants (in alphabetical order):
Uri Harpaz, “These Are the Banai Family” (Gavri, Uri and Boaz), Asaf Avidan, Ethnix, Dorit Reuveni, Dani Basan, Daniel Weiss, HaGevatron, Maya Balzitzman, Nunu (Naomi Gal), Eilai Botner and the New Children, Rivka Michaeli, Raz Shmueli, Shira Yuval, Shalom Hanoch, Shlomo Artzi.
Host: Yair Nitzani

Editing and artistic direction: Dalit Ofer
Arrangements and musical direction: Ohad Ben-Abi
Producers: Hami Sal, Michal Sagiv
Production: Sal Events and Productions Ltd.

On Thursday, November 19, 2026, Israel’s finest artists, creators and cultural figures will gather on one stage at the Tel Aviv Culture Hall for a festive and moving tribute evening marking the 80th birthday of singer, composer and creator Hanan Yuval—one of the most distinctive, beloved and influential voices in the Israeli soundtrack.

Over more than six decades, the man known as “the Israeli Paul Simon” has built an extraordinary repertoire that has become an inseparable part of Israeli identity. Hanan’s songs—whether performed by him or by the country’s finest artists, for whom he composed—have accompanied generations of Israelis, crossing ages, sectors and opinions, and succeeding time and again in bringing people together.

Throughout his extensive career, Hanan has created dozens of successful collaborations with singers, poets and other creators in ensembles, performances and joint albums, alongside a prolific solo career that has become part of the collective memory and cultural DNA of an entire country.

Among the dozens of songs that have become cornerstones of Hebrew music are “You Remember the Songs,” “A Half-Meeting,” “And If This Song Sounds Familiar to You,” “May the Sun Pass Over Me,” “Me, Shimon and Little Moiz,” and “Tonight Is Songs,” alongside his unforgettable performances of “Parking Night,” “The Song of Ascents,” and “The Days of Binyamina,” as well as later songs including “A Hot Summer Evening” and “Every Word.”

Hanan’s artistic path has always been accompanied by significant public activity. Hanan Yuval has worked for many years—and continues to work—for the rights of creators and performers in Israel, especially veteran artists. For his many years of contribution to Israeli culture, he has received ACUM Awards and the AMI Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2021 Eric Einstein Ministry of Culture Award, and a special lifetime achievement award from the President of Bar-Ilan University.

The tribute evening, with musician Ohad Ben-Abi as musical director and Yair Nitzani as host, will feature Hanan’s close friends and longtime collaborators—some of the most prominent and beloved names in Israeli culture—performing his songs with the accompaniment of a nine-member band. Participants will include: Uri Harpaz, “These Are the Banai Family” (Gavri, Uri and Boaz), Asaf Avidan, Ethnix, Dorit Reuveni, Dani Basan, Daniel Weiss, HaGevatron, Maya Balzitzman, Nunu (Naomi Gal), Eilai Botner and the New Children, Rivka Michaeli, Raz Shmueli, Shira Yuval, Shalom Hanoch, and Shlomo Artzi.

This will be much more than a tribute performance. It will be an evening of Israeli culture at its finest—a salute to the creator who, over decades, succeeded in writing, composing and singing Israel’s story, and in turning his songs into a home and a comforting, familiar voice for millions of Israelis.