Michael Ben David

Michael Ben David was born in 1996 in Ashkelon

Michael Ben David was born in Ashkelon in 1996 to a mother who came to Israel from Kyiv and a father of Georgian Jewish origin. He grew up in Petah Tikva and moved to the Kfar Hayarok boarding school in sixth grade. As a child he took voice lessons and studied dance.

He did his military service in a classified unit of the Ministry of Defense. He then studied at the Beit Zvi School of Performing Arts and graduated in 2020. At the school he acted in plays and musicals.

In 2021 he entered the fourth season of The X Factor Israel, where Netta was his mentor. He won the final in February 2022 with "I.M" and sang it in the second semifinal of Eurovision 2022 in May. Israel placed 13th in the semifinal and did not reach the final.

He released his first single, "Lo Lihyot Ani", in May 2022 and a second, "Sim Gaz", in January 2023. In 2023 he played Yaki Elhanan in the youth series "La'uf Al Anna". From 2025 he has appeared in the musical "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert".

He is openly gay. He became engaged to Roi Ram in Turin in May 2022, and the two married on 4 May 2023.