Singer Rita hospitalized with unspecified infection

One of Israel’s most popular singers was hospitalized over the weekend for an unspecified infection.

Rita Yahan-Farouz, known to her fans simply as Rita, was rushed to Tel Aviv’s Ichilov hospital on Saturday after feeling unwell.

She is now in stable condition but remains in an isolation ward in the intensive care unit, her family said.

Rita, 54, was born in Iran. She came to Israel with her family in 1970 and went on to become one of the country’s top recording artists and most recognized celebrities, representing Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1990.

She has released 12 albums, all of which went gold and some of which have gone multi-platinum.

She is known for emphasizing her Iranian heritage and in 2012 released the album “All my Joys” which was sung in both Hebrew and Persian.

Rita said the album was aimed at introducing a wider audience to the music that has influenced her, with “My Joys” being her modern take on classic Iranian songs of her past. She said her parents helped her brush up on her Persian and offered suggestions.

“This is the project of my life. It is something much bigger than singing or a record or a career. I think it is deeper,” she said.

She hoped that this album could create a bridge between the people of Israel and the people of Iran. “No matter what the governments … decide to do, the people they are smart and they want peace and they want to live their lives,” she said. “It’s time that people will know something a little bit else than what the (Iranian) regime represents.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.