Art Garfunkel, half of the legendary duo Simon and Garfunkel, will be taking the stage in Tel Aviv along with Israeli star Aviv Geffen at the end of the month.

In an interview with N12 last week, the 83-year-old Garfunkel said that he’d join Geffen for four songs during the Neshef Rock festival at HaYarkon Park on May 29.

“It’s been years since I was there. I feel excited. Israel gets greener all the time,” said the Jewish Garfunkel, who last performed in Israel at Bloomfield Stadium in 2015.

During the last 19 months of war, when very few international performers have visited Israel, Garfunkel said that he was apprehensive about the safety factor but was intent on coming.

“I worry about the safety factor. My impression here is that you never know; it’s a volatile thing,” he said.

Picnic at Yarkon Park (credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI)
Picnic at Yarkon Park (credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI)

The one time the duo performed in Israel in 1983

Recalling the last time he performed in Israel with his one-time partner Paul Simon in 1983 in Ramat Gan Stadium, Garfunkel said, “Aside from America, Israel was the next best audience, more than any place in the world. Israel was extremely warm to Simon & Garfunkel.”

Speaking to The Jerusalem Post ahead of his 2015 show, Garfunkel said that he didn’t see much hope in resolving the conflicts that have plagued Israel since its inception.

“If only Israel was located in the middle of Australia, you’d have so much less trouble. I feel for Israel. It looks like you have many more decades of this s*** to face with the Palestinians. This is a formula that is not yielding anything – no movement, no creativity.

“You’re in for a couple more hundred years of stone throwing. It’s remarkably static, and it feels like it hasn’t budged an inch. You’re locked into an embrace of animosity – you and your neighbors.”