Yonatan Razel

Yonatan Razel was born in 1973 in New York City

Yonatan Razel was born in New York in 1973, the eldest son of Carol and Micha Razel. His family moved to Israel when he was young and settled in the Nachlaot neighborhood of Jerusalem. He is the brother of musicians Aharon Razel and Ricka Van Leeuwen.

As a child he studied classical music and piano with Pnina Salzman. He studied conducting with Mendi Rodan and composition with André Hajdu and Lev Boguslavsky. With his siblings he formed a family band.

In the IDF he served as a musician and arranger in a military band. Later he conducted the Israel Chamber Orchestra and the Ra'anana Symphonette. He then left music for a time, moved to Susya, worked as a shepherd and studied psychology.

An offer to arrange songs by Yoni Rechter brought him back to music, and he became close friends with Evyatar Banai. In 2007 he released his first album, All in All, produced by Banai. His 2009 song "Vehi Sheamda", sung with Yaakov Shwekey, was named Song of the Decade by Kol Chai radio.

His song "Katonti" was chosen as ACUM's song of the year for 2013. He founded the Shirat HaLeviim music school in Jerusalem and lives in Givat Zev HaChadasha with his wife Yael. In June 2026 he was hospitalized after a brain hemorrhage.