Israelis left shocked after song 'humiliating Israeli army' played at festival

Lebanese singer Julia Boutros has caused a stir in Israel after one of her songs were played at a festival.

Boutros is known for her support for the Hezbollah militant group, which has fought serveral conflicts against Israel and is considered a terrorist organisation there.

A song of hers, where she glorifies Hezbollah and its fighters in their war against Israel in 2006, was reportedly played at the Batoufna festival in the town of Arraba in early July.

The town is also known as Arrabat al-Battuf and is populated mainly by Palestinians with Israeli citizenship.

Israeli media said that "a generous gesture was made to the Lebanese singer Julia Boutros, who is known for her support for Hezbollah, and even expresses in part of her song her sympathy for the organisation and its leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah."

In the song, called "Aaba Majdak", Boutros sings: “Your glory was put to shame with humiliation and defeat, when the south [of Lebanon] rose to resist.”

Israeli media slammed it as "a song glorifying the saboteurs of the terrorist organisation".

Israel and Hezbollah fought a month-long war in the summer of 2006. Iran-backed Hezbollah claimed victory in the conflict, and its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, said in a televised speech on Tuesday that that war was "the hardest we ever lived."

"These words represent the vision of Hezbollah’s supporters. According to them, the Israeli army was humiliated by the organisation in the Second Lebanon War," Israeli media said in reference to the 2006 war.

They also noted that images of destroyed Israeli tanks were displayed during a concert by Boutros in the southern Lebanese coastal city of Tyre – where Hezbollah has a significantly large support base.

Israeli Culture and Sports Minister Chili Tropper expressed regret for the incident, saying his ministry was unaware of the festival’s programme.

"The festival was not held with the knowledge and approval of the ministry, but rather through a [separate] municipal cultural programme…which is a fixed budget transferred from the ministry to all local authorities in Israel," he said.

"The ministry does not interfere in the content of festivals held in more than 250 local authorities."

Arraba Mayor Omar Nassar said the songs played at the festival were not linked to Hezbollah, clarifying that one performance chose to play an apolitical song by Julia Boutros.

Boutros, who hails from south Lebanon and is married to Lebanese political Elias Bou Saab, has sung many songs supportive of Hezbollah.