Aviv Geffen hosts Art Garfunkel in Tel Aviv, calls for end to war

Rocker Aviv Geffen held his annual Rock Ball concert Thursday night in Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park, including visiting performer Art Garfunkel as well as fellow Israeli stars Shalom Hanoch, Evyatar Banai, Berry Sakharof, Chaim Moshe and Nurit Galron.

Garfunkel, 83, took the stage accompanied by his son James Garfunkel and mentioned his Hebrew name – Aharon – before thanking Geffen for the opportunity to perform with him in Israel.

The singer, half of the beloved, renowned Simon & Garfunkel folk rock duo, first sang “The Boxer,” his familiar high tenor voice ringing in the outdoor venue.

Geffen later joined Garfunkel and his son as the trio sang “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and “The Sound of Silence.”

Audience members present at the concert wrote about those moments on social media, calling it an incredibly charged and emotional experience for the singers and the audience.

Geffen also took the opportunity onstage to make a plea for the hostages still held in Gaza, and called to bring the ongoing war in Gaza to an end.

“I think the time has come to end the war and bring home the hostages,” said Geffen to the audience’s applause. “I think the war is dragging on and not for the right reasons, it’s the survival of a sick government that isn’t good for a healthy Israeli nation. More soldiers are going to war and some of them will be killed; the hostages will slowly die. These are our brothers!”

The crowd of an estimated 55,000 cheered in response, calling “Now!” to Geffen’s plea for the hostages.

Israel launched the war in Gaza following the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre that killed some 1,200 people and saw another 251 taken hostage.

Polls have consistently shown that most Israelis support a deal that would bring home the hostages, even if it means ending the war. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused, saying he will not end the war until Hamas is defeated. His critics accuse him of prolonging the war for political reasons to appease his hard-right coalition partners who have threatened to bolt the government in the event of a deal.

Evidence of the conflict was felt at the concert.

At around 9:20 p.m., sirens sounded in the country’s center due to a missile launched by the Houthis in Yemen, although the sirens couldn’t be heard in the venue.

“There might be sirens,” said Aviv Geffen onstage, according to the event’s production team. “The show will go on as usual, the missile was intercepted outside of Israel. Everything is fine,” he said following an update from the Home Front Command.

According to Channel 12, the alert for the missile did not fall within the zone that includes the concert area at Yarkon Park, allowing the concert to continue.

The Iran-backed Houthis claim to be attacking Israel in support of the Palestinians in Gaza.