Legend in France in the 1970s, Israeli singer Mike Brant has since Wednesday a street in his name in Israel, 45 years after his death at the age of 28. The municipality of the port city of Haifa (north), where the singer grew up, decided to name a street in his name, the first in Israel in memory of the star, who remained unknown in his homeland.
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Born in 1947 in Cyprus to Polish Jewish parents, in a British camp for new illegal immigrants in Palestine, he grew up in Haifa and began singing after his military service. Noticed by French singer Sylvie Vartan during a tour of Iran with the troupe in which he plays - at the time when the Israelis could go there, before the Islamic revolution of 1979 - Mike Brant went to France where he quickly becomes a star.
His interpretation of the song Laisse moi t'aimer is an international hit and his career explodes with titles regularly on the charts of radios in France, like C'est ma prayer and Dis lui . On April 25, 1975, Mike Brant died following a fall, probably voluntary, from the 6th floor of a building in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. He was buried a few days later in Haifa. A place in his name was inaugurated in 2018 in Paris, near his home.
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In Israel, a documentary film ( Mike Brant-Laisse moi t'aimer ) was dedicated to him in 2002 as well as a play in 2008 ( Mike ). But no street had been named in his memory until the decision of the mayor of Haifa last March. His brother, Tzvika Brand, 70, told AFP that he " did not understand why it took so long for there to be a street named after him in Israel . " “I am very moved today,” he added.
