There's no need to introduce David Draiman to Israelis. He's not just another global rock star who comes to perform here - he's ours, wholeheartedly. He has family here, he's a Jew who doesn't hide it for a moment, even throws in "akhi" (Hebrew for "brother") with a smile. The love for him in Israel isn't measured just in tickets sold or radio hits. It's real, mutual love.
This week, he landed in Israel straight from an event he'll never forget – the final performance, the historic farewell event of Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne in Birmingham. One evening when some of the biggest names in rock shared the stage – Guns N' Roses, Aerosmith, Metallica, and others. Draiman was there, on stage, one of them – but also a huge fan who never forgets where he came from.
He admits he's still recovering. "I don't think that there was ever a room assembled with a higher concentration of rock and roll star power in my life," he said. For Draiman, Ozzy and Black Sabbath aren't just legends – they're his teachers. "They're the godfathers of heavy metal. I'm fortunate and blessed enough to be able to call the Osborne family our friends. They were very instrumental in the development of Disturbed and our growth, and in our discovery."
He describes the evening as a once-in-a-lifetime event where all the biggest rock stars became fans again. "We were terrified, every single one of us. Whether it was somebody like Steven Tyler, or the Metallica guys, everybody was intimidated. I still have to pinch myself. Here I am with the guys in the room whose records I was first looking at for the first time when I was 10-years-old."
Video: The lead vocalist of Disturbed, David Draiman, in an exclusive interview with Israel Hayom. Credit: Jonathan Duschnitzky, Gil Kremer
But this evening wasn't just a glittering celebration behind the scenes. It also became the talk of the day because of some boos heard from the audience while he was on stage. Draiman doesn't dodge the question, but puts things in perspective. "I was expecting something," he said. "It caught me off guard, but it was for a minute, and so I didn't really pay all that much attention to it. Because by the time I was one stanza into the first song, the whole crowd was with me, clapping and pumping fists."
What really bothered him was how this story took on a life of its own in the media. "This perversion of reality for the sake of the narrative is just pathetic, to be perfectly honest," he said. "It deserved to be about Ozzy, it deserved to be about Sabbath."
But Draiman isn't naive and isn't blind to the hatred circulating in the world. He's not afraid to call it by name. "They [think] they're fighting for justice but they're fighting for the devil. The greatest trick the devil ever played was to convince the world he doesn't actually exist, but he does. And he's manifesting himself all over the place these days." Still, he's careful to say the haters were few. "They were there, but not in the numbers that they would try to convince you of. That's the stupidity of the whole thing. We made an elephant out of it."
He also says many colleagues know exactly where he stands politically. "They do," he says seriously, but refuses to name names. "I won't betray their trust by naming them because they may not want, nor do they deserve, the backlash that is going to come with it. But I can tell you with an open heart and in all honesty, that there has been a shockingly strong outpouring of support." Then he draws the clear lines of his identity: "This [Star of David] is more than something I wear around my neck. It's who I am. I'm not afraid of it. I don't cower, I don't back down, and I never will. They count on us to be Jews with trembling knees; I won't give them that."
He takes care to mention again the large Star of David he wears on stage. "There certainly is no shortage of crosses at a Black Sabbath show. There might as well be one Magen David that's fine," he smiled.
But then something in him changes. His voice becomes softer, his heart opens wide. He speaks about Yarden Bibas. This isn't just another story; it's a piece of deep pain that connects people who never knew each other before.
Their connection began in the most difficult moments. Someone reached out to him and told him that Yarden wanted to use one of his songs at his family's funeral. Draiman didn't hesitate for a moment. "I was absolutely blown away that it would even be considered for something like that. You know, 'Hold On To Memories', that's precisely the type of thing that was written for. It couldn't possibly gain greater poignancy than through what is probably the greatest tragedy to befall the Jewish people since the Holocaust."
He shared how he followed the story. "I think everyone fell in love with the father he is. I never felt so close to another family's children as if they were my own. I think we were all so glued to our televisions, just watching every moment for a sign of hope that they were still alive. And I felt so connected."
The face-to-face meeting was a moment he'll never forget. "He's just the sweetest, most demure, most genuine human. But you can feel his pain, you can see the darkness in his eyes still. He's just the kind of guy you feel like you want to just give him a big hug. To weather that storm, to have your children, your most precious things in all of existence, murdered at the hands of savages, and to somehow find a way to keep moving forward, it's a crazy thing to even be a part of any part of this story. I'm humbled by the experience."
He stops for a moment and then adds something quiet, almost in a whisper. "You only dream that the therapeutic and cathartic nature of what you've created can do the same for someone else. That's what gives it life beyond your creation."
And he's careful to remind that his support for Israel isn't new. "I've been doing this for 25-30 years. Since the day I started, I've never hidden. Not from one single day, and I never will."
His love for Israel is clear. "I love our people. I love our history. I love our heritage. You have all hell of the world thrown at us, and we just get tougher. It has the absolute opposite effect of what they're trying to achieve."
But he also doesn't sugarcoat the difficulties. "It's been a difficult year. For all of us in the industry who feel the way that I do. And there are many who can't find it in them yet to voice it, maybe. It's very difficult to try and challenge a situation where you have people on the other side of the equation who outnumber us by the billions and who are willing to give up their lives to take yours. That's not how we behave. Jews don't threaten other people. We don't strap on suicide vests and run into crowds. We love life, that culture celebrates death, and we can't play their game. I'm okay with that. I'd rather walk with honor and dignity than turn myself into an animal to battle the animals."
And within all this, he also has personal moments of light. A few months ago he knelt down and proposed on stage. "I love the hell out of her. She's such a gift. She's such a blessing in my absolutely insane world. We have yet to have a single fight in a year and a half of relationship; She's gorgeous, she's got such a lovely soul. So lucky that we found each other."
And finally, he shares something personal. The current visit is dedicated only to his mother who is ill with cancer. He makes a humble, very human request. "If anyone feels like saying Tehillim, or they can make a blessing on my mother's behalf, fighting stage 4 cancer. That's why I'm here in Israel right now. I could use everybody's prayers and everybody's wishes."
And when asked about additional shows in Israel, he doesn't promise anything, but doesn't rule it out either. "Well, Shuki Weiss says we can't come back for a while. He says we need to wait. Airports just recently reopened; we're dealing with a tiny war that we're in the middle of, and this is stage one. I think there's more to come: Iran's not done, Hamas isn't done, the hostages aren't home. The job isn't complete, but I've never been more proud. Crazy what we've been able to accomplish. Shocked the world. We've been underestimated for centuries; will continue to be underestimated. That's fine. It's easier to win that way."
