Riki Gal

Riki Gal was born in 1950 in Jerusalem

Riki Gal was born Rivka Menashe in 1950 in the Mea Shearim neighborhood of Jerusalem, to an Orthodox family. Her parents divorced when she was 2, and she grew up in institutions and kibbutzim, including the Finnish mission and Kibbutz Nir David. While at Nir David she studied modern ballet with Gertrud Kraus in Haifa.

Gal served in the Israeli Navy entertainment troupe, where her music career began. After her service she married Yisrael Poliakov of HaGashash HaHiver and joined the Jacques Brel songs production. In 1974 her song "The Sun Is the Light of the World" marked the start of her solo career.

After her divorce in 1975 she moved to New York, where she studied acting and singing and married restaurateur George Markus. That marriage also ended, and she returned to Israel for the rock opera Benny Boom.

Gal worked with Matti Caspi, Ehud Manor and Louis Lahav. She starred in Evita in 1989, appeared in Les Miserables and Chicago, and was a judge on Kokhav Nolad. From 1990 to 2002 she was married to reporter Ori Cohen Aharonov, and their daughter was born in 1991.