Barbra Streisand to play two more gigs in Israel

Barbra Streisand will perform in Israel on June 15 and 16, as well as at the opening ceremony of Shimon Peres’s annual Presidential Conference, the legendary Jewish-American singer and actress announced Saturday.

Earlier this week, Streisand announced that she would perform in Israel on June 18 at the opening ceremony of Shimon Peres’s annual Presidential Conference, which will also honor his 90th birthday. On Saturday, it was announced that she had added two more gigs to her Israeli tour — at Tel Aviv’s Bloomfield Stadium.

Streisand, 70, has visited multiple times and is known as a supporter of Israel, but her June appearances will mark her first official performances in the Jewish state.

Her visit will occur during a rare European tour organized by concert promoter Live Nation, a company that has a working relationship with Israeli promoter Shuki Weiss.

Israeli fans and various promoters have attempted several times to organize a performance by Streisand at a large venue, without success.

“I tried to bring her to Israel, alone and with other producers, and it was always difficult… [They wanted] very large sums of money,” a veteran concert promoter told Mako. “It seems that this time, according to the circumstances, it fell on Shuki Weiss [to do it].”

Weiss has been responsible for bringing many international acts to Israel, including upcoming visits by Depeche Mode and Alicia Keys.

Streisand is one of the best-selling artists of all time, with 140 million records sold worldwide since she began her career in the early 1960s, and has also had a distinguished acting career in movies, television and on the stage. In 2012 she issued her 33rd studio recording, “Release Me,” and embarked on a successful world tour, only her fifth major tour since 1966.

The Israeli Presidential Conference, which runs June 18-20, attracts some 4,500 attendees and features 200 leaders in their fields, including former heads of state, academics, scientists, journalists and artists.