Israeli maestro woos fans in off-limits Iran
Mark Eliyahu sat and tuned his ancient Persian violin-like “kamanci” in a yurt in northern Israel — but many of his biggest fans are in Iran, a country he cannot visit.
Eliyahu’s ethereal music, partly inspired by his Jewish roots from the Dagestan region of the Caucasus, is gaining recognition in Israel.
Yet despite the bitter hostility between the Israeli government and Tehran, which cut ties in the wake of the 1979 Iranian revolution, he also has a growing following among Iranians.
