Eyal Golan, one of Israel’s most famous singers, is under house arrest, suspected of having sex with underage girls.

Golan is a bestselling artist from the mizrachi or Eastern music genre, as well as being a television star. He has his own show, and serves as a judge on the talent show Rising Star.

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The case of a “famous singer” who is under investigation for sex acts has been the talk of Israel for a week, but a gag order has prevented proper reporting on the case, and prohibited revealing the name of the suspect.

The lifting of the gag order yesterday, as the singer was released to house arrest, allowed what had been floating around blogosphere for days, namely that it was Golan, to appear in the media. During the gag order there was the same sense of an absurd situation reminiscent of when the Anat Kamm case couldn’t be reported by the media in Israel but was known to everyone with an internet connection.

One of the weirdest aspects of the Golan case is that that his father is suspected to have been involved. A news report posted following his 61-year-old father’s appearance in court today suggested that he used the prospect of access to his son as a lure and that he gave at least one girl money and gifts to get her to sleep with him.

And so, In Israel, two weeks after one scandal ends, another begins. Eyal Golan’s appearances on his shows have been cancelled since the news broke, but his life has now become the ultimate reality television show, and the country is well and truly gripped.

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