Abigail Klein Leichman
March 26, 2018

Israeli performing artists Static (Liraz Russo) & Ben-El (Ben-El Tavori) have signed a $5 million, seven-album, 10-year recording contract with Capitol Records.

Israeli-American media mogul Haim Saban facilitated the deal through his Los Angeles-based Saban Capital Group, which launched a $100 venture capital fund in Israel two years ago focusing digital media companies including Nyotron, ironSource, Everysight and Playbuzz.

Saban never before invested in singers. His nephew, Gil Saban, CEO of Saban Brands Israel, brought Static & Ben-El to his attention.

“I believe that the talents of Static & Ben-El will speak to music lovers around the world,” Saban said. “Together with [Capitol Records’] professional staff, we at Saban Capital Group are happy to support them in developing this next stage in their unique and successful career.”

Static & Ben El has built a huge following with eight singles and music videos released since November 2015. The duo’s 2017 Hebrew-Portuguese dance number, “Tudo Bom,” racked up nearly 47 million views on the official YouTube channel alone.

The 20-somethings served as judges on the last two seasons of Israel’s reality singing show “The Next Star.” Their producer, Jordi (Yarden Peleg), is a judge on the first season of “Israel’s Got Talent.”

Peleg posted on Facebook about the record deal (in translation): “Never, but never, give up on your dreams. Proud to be a partner in such a great and amazing thing. Just a dream come true. Many thanks to Haim Saban who saw us as something beyond what we even saw ourselves.”

Static & Ben-El will now cut English-language albums in the US and Latin America. Meanwhile, the duo is performing in Paris, New York, Florida, Los Angeles and Mexico over the next couple of months.

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