Zehava Ben

Zehava Ben was born in 1968 in Beersheba

Zehava Ben was born Zehava Benisti in Beersheba on 8 November 1968, to parents who came from Morocco. She grew up in Neighborhood D of the city with seven sisters and two brothers. Her identical twin sister is the singer Etti Levy, and her father Shimon had been a musician in Morocco.

As a young woman she sang at family events and in pubs. In 1988 producer Eli Banai offered her a management contract after hearing her in a pub in Sderot. Her first album, "Tipat Mazal," came out in late 1989 and became a hit.

In the 1990s she released many albums, including Arabic covers such as "Enta Omri" by Umm Kulthum. In 1992 she acted in the film "Tipat Mazal," directed by Ze'ev Revach. In 1996 she sang the Meretz election song with Dana Berger, and her album of Arabic songs brought her back to wide attention.

In 2005 she came second in the contest to choose Israel's Eurovision song. She won the Israeli Big Brother in 2022. In 2025 she was a torchbearer at the Independence Day ceremony.