Bennett celebrates 50th birthday with cake, balloons, Kobi Oz

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett marked his 50th birthday on Friday, welcoming staff bearing balloons and a cake into his office as they sang a cheerful “Happy Birthday” and promised a surprise.

A video of the celebration was posted to Bennett’s Facebook on Friday.

The surprise was an appearance by musician Kobi Oz, lead singer of the Israeli band Teapacks, of whom Bennett is a huge fan.

Oz embraced Bennett and wished him a happy birthday as they exchanged pleasantries. Oz joked that the initial plan was for him to jump out of the cake.

“I would like to wish you a happy birthday and also say ‘thank you’ for the hard work you are doing for the sake of the people of Israel,” Oz said to Bennett in the video as the two sat across from each other with the cake between them. Oz said he hoped Bennett would push forward “and succeed in all your good deeds.”

Oz, known for his flamboyant personal style, has led Teapacks, a pop-rock band formed in the southern city of Sderot, since 1988. With 8 albums that have sold over 300,000 copies, Teapacks is among the bands that have most influenced Israeli musical identity in recent decades.

In the video, Bennett said he was moved by Oz’s personal message and the two discussed the deep divisions in Israeli society that led to four successive national elections in the span of two years before the prime minister was able to form a razor-thin majority coalition last year, bringing together parties across the political spectrum, including an Arab party. Ra’am became the first Arab political party to join an Israeli government in decades, and the first ever to be crucial to a governing majority.

Unity is “my journey, my mission, my drive,” Bennett said.

“Kobi, I really love you, thank you for being [my birthday] gift,” he told the singer.

In a post accompanying the video, Bennett thanked his “staff of champions” for the birthday surprise.