Pop star Bruno Mars played his first show in Israel on Wednesday night, and thrilled his fans with declarations of love for the Jewish homeland.
At the first of two sold-out shows in Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park, Mars sang the Hebrew words “Ani ohev otach” ("I love you") to the delight of concertgoers, and surprised the 60,000-strong crowd with a solo piano version of the Israeli children’s song, “Shlomit Bona Sukkah” ("Shlomit Builds a Succah"), by the late singer-songwriter Naomi Shemer, to mark the festival of Succot.
Dressed in Israeli colours - a white shirt and blue trousers - the multi-Grammy winner told the delighted crowd: “Tel Aviv, I think I want to marry you!” during his rendition of his hit “Marry You”.
Born Peter Hernandez, Mars's father is half-Jewish and half-Puerto Rican while his mother is Filipino. Mars's Jewish ancestors were of Hungarian and Ukrainian descent, and it has been reported that one of his grandparents was a Hebrew teacher.
