Noa Kirel, Israel’s biggest star, takes on a new role

[Missing Credit]Noa Kirel (Photo: Shachar Arbib)

As we talk, though, it’s clear to see she is focused, driven, confident and articulate (like many young Israelis, she speaks with an almost American accent). In the background are several members of her team, management and PR. Kirel is unmistakably a brand. Her long-time manager is Roberto Ben-Shoshan.

“I have an incredible team that I built for eight, almost nine years of my career,” she says. “I work with them and it's like family, they know me so well. We go together and feel the energy together. I have an amazing team that I trust and I let them do their job. But, as an artist, I need to be on top of everything, it’s my career.”

We begin by discussing Wonder, a series produced by Ananay-Paramount and Yes Studios, a suspenseful drama revolving around Noya (played by Kirel), a 17-year-old who dies in a car crash. Her father, Avner, a retired combat officer, joins forces with Daria, her best friend, to investigate Noya’s death.

Avner discovers Noya had a secret virtual life, as part of a movement of teenagers swept up in the world of Wonder - a mysterious virtual reality gaming app. They realise Noya’s death was no accident and is just one of the many cases of teenage deaths related to the game.

“It's a very serious project and obviously also very futuristic,” says Kirel.

The role is an exciting departure for her. "I did have my own series, I played myself and it was mostly for kids, mostly fun. This is really different, it’s very challenging for me to do this kind of project.”

Her character’s name, Noya, turns out to be the name Kirel was given at birth. Kirel explains: “When I was three months old, I had a severe kidney illness and was very ill. As I got better, a rabbi at the time said my parents should call me ‘Noa’, which in Hebrew means movement. I think he joked I may be a dancer!”

She has only one fully functioning kidney; “But it is fine, you can survive on one kidney. I spent a lot of time in out of hospital until I was probably about six years old. Now I go for regular checkups but am fine. I obviously take care of myself for my work, and work out and eat well.”

Along with the futuristic element of Wonder, the core of the story is the relationship between Noya and her father and how little he knew of her life. A totally opposite scenario to Kirel’s own life: “My parents always have been really involved and they know everything about me forever. So it's different, but this is really interesting because in reality a lot of parents doesn't know what their teenagers do.”

[Missing Credit](Photo: Shachar Arbib)

Kirel and her two older brothers grew up in Ra'anana. Her mother, Ilana, runs a boutique. “I sort of grew up in her boutique, always with clothes and fashion. She's really managing my styling team. it's fun to work with her. She always knows the right thing for me. Sometimes when you work with stylists, they can tell you: ‘Wow, this is amazing! You look so great!’. And then my mom is coming in and it's like: ‘No, take it off, It's not cool’. It's nice to have her involved because she has this passion and style. I love clothes and costumes, and all that came from her.”

Kirel’s father Amir, CEO of a glass company, is of Austrian descent, and most of his family were murdered in Auschwitz. The singer sparked controversy at Eurovision in Liverpool in 2023 when she described being awarded the maximum 12 points by Poland as a victory for her family and for the people of Israel.

“When Poland gives Israel 12 points, after almost the entire Kirel family was murdered in the Holocaust, it is a victory,” Kirel told Israel’s Kan news immediately after the competition.

The comment inflamed an already tense relationship between Poland and Israel. Poland’s foreign minister, Paweł Jabłońsk, invited her to Poland and she accepted. During her visit, with people from all over the world gathered at Auschwitz, she commemorated Holocaust Memorial Day with a performance of Over The Rainbow, a capella and partly in Hebrew.

“There was a big stage and a ceremony for March of The Living,” she says. “There were so many people. They were incredible moments, because to stand on this stage and to sing, to see the view of Auschwitz in front of me, it was unreal. And to see all those people there too. It was important for me and for my grandfather and my father as well, because we lost all our family there.”

Kirel’s grandfather, Alex and his sister and cousin fled Austria in 1939, the only members of the family to do so. In 1961 in Israel, Alex, already working for the IDF, chose to be a security officer so he could be present at the trial of Adolph Eichmann. Two hundred and twenty members of the family were murdered in Holocaust. Kirel had made an emotional journey to Auschwitz previously in 2019. Together with her father she lit candles and said prayers for their dead family. Kirel streamed the entire visit on her various social media channels.

“It’s a way of getting young people to know about the Holocaust, especially as there are now so few survivors left. it was like closure for me. It was very special moment and it's amazing that I have the opportunity to do those things, those kinds of projects, to keep the memories.”

Noa Kirel in the Kanye West outfit (Getty Images for MTV)[Missing Credit]

Kirel has won five MTV Europe Music Awards for Best Israeli Act, between 2017 and 2022. Two years ago at the awards ceremony she wore an outfit adorned with the face of rapper Kanye West and dozens of gold chains with the Star of David and the chai symbol.

“After all the antisemitic things that Kanye said about Jewish people, I knew I had to have something that will be powerful on the red carpet,” Kirel said at the time. “After the Holocaust and all that history, it was very important to me to make a statement and to bring my culture and represent Israel.”

Which brings us to October 7. When Hamas attacked Israel on that day in 2023, Kirel was away in Germany – her boyfriend Daniel Peretz, a member of Israel’s national football team, is goalkeeper for Bayern Munich. “I had just done a huge concert in Israel in front of 120,000 people and a few days after I flew to Germany. I didn't realise what is going on; you know, it took a few days. Nobody did really. And to understand how big it was.

“So to be away from Israel, I was terrified. I didn't know what to do. I didn't have the chance to come back because there were no flights back home at the beginning. Obviously, I talked to my parents, but it was a while before I could get home. All my family were safe thankfully. But you know, Israel is a small country, and we all know somebody who was caught up in it somehow.”

After the war started, Kirel rewrote her Eurovision hit, Unicorn, to commemorate the attack; “The words are very expressive. It felt really natural for me to do a quiet version of this song and a more emotional version and people really like that.

Since October 7, I’ve been going round singing and meeting so many people with crazy stories. I'm meeting kids and adults and families that went through hell and I discovered that I have so much impact on those people. For them to be able to put a smile on their faces when they see me it's unreal and I'm very grateful for that.

“The main thing for me, and I believe for all my country as well, is we are just praying that the hostages will come back safely.”

Becoming so famous so young has not been without pitfalls. She has experienced negativity on social media. “I don't know even how to describe what it was like when I was young and brought my first single out. I got a lot of criticism of that, you know, that I'm ‘too young’ and’ go to school’ and ‘stop doing that’.

“It was really, really hard at the beginning, but luckily, like I said, I have my parents around me and my family and my team to hold me up and to give me this energy…Now I ignore it and just reach out to my fans on social media.”

Last year she broke up with model Tomer Hacohen, whom she dated for two years and in recent months has been dating Peretz who is represented by the same agent as Kirel: “We are in different countries so it's challenging, but we have such a beautiful relationship, so we just make it work,” she says, her face lighting up.

“It’s strange for me that I need to manage my relationship. But we do; we have to look at each other’s schedule and then write our own. It never happened to me before, but I like it because it's new. We really have incredible relationship and I love him. He's so supportive and he loves what I'm doing and I'm there for him and to support his career too.”

Coming from a close and happy family, Kirel would like one day to marry and have children. “Obviously it's in my mind to have a normal life as well, and not only career. I think this balance is very important for my mental health as well... Really, when you want it you can manage everything so you can do both.”

Throughout our conversation, Kirel constantly refers to her family, whom she credits with protecting her and keeping her grounded: “Exactly! it's my parents, it's my family, it's my home, it's the values that I grew up on, to always stay humble. I had this nice video that my dad took when I was 13 and a half or 14 saying I'm going to be the biggest star in Israel. But I will always remember where I came from and always stay humble. I have this on tape, so it's very interesting to see that these are still my values. When you're starting really young, your mind can change and you can feel like a superstar and like a diva, but it's not me, it's not my parents' way, it's not my way.”

So much so, she’s happy to meet her fans whenever she’s out about in Israel. “I love to go around and to see them and to talk to them and to feel their love. I really do see it in the positive way. Maybe sometimes it can be overwhelming, but in the end of the day I'm doing this for them and I'm doing this to make people happy and to make people feel. I love that I can go and have conversations with my fans in the street. I love to meet them.”

So does she feel like an ambassador for Israel?

“One hundred per cent! I feel it's my duty to do that for Israel all over the world. To raise our voice and to represent Israel and to speak out about what is really is going on. I'm not a politician, so I'm trying to do it in my way through music, through shows. I feel like it's my duty to do that.”