Singer Benaia Barbi has been ordered to pay his former personal manager, Or Marmelstein, 5.3 million shekels after an arbitration ruling found he unlawfully and in bad faith terminated their management deal. The dispute was heard by attorney Alon Kaplan and centers on a professional relationship that began in 2018, when Marmelstein started managing Barbi and helped turn him into a breakout star with hits such as "Mima At Mefachedet" and "Mishehu Iti Kan."
In 2021, the two signed an exclusive management and representation agreement for three years, but relations quickly deteriorated. Barbi claimed Marmelstein disrespected him, charged excessive performance fees that hurt demand, blocked collaborations with artists including Idan Raichel and Mosh Ben Ari, and interfered with his participation in the music project "Tzama." Marmelstein argued that he built Barbi’s career from the beginning and accused the singer of trying to cut him out once he began earning millions.
Barbi sent a unilateral cancellation notice in March 2022, citing alleged financial irregularities and unauthorized "theft of funds," including through booking commissions. He also claimed the contract was signed "through trickery and sophistication" near the time of his wedding, when he lacked legal representation. The arbitrator rejected that argument, noting the agreement was actually signed weeks after the wedding, and that Barbi’s sister, a certified accountant, negotiated the contract, reviewed it, and added comments and changes.
The ruling said the cancellation was done "over" Marmelstein’s head and that the notice was given "in bad faith" and without real justification. An accounting expert found a reporting gap of only 2.2 percent, about 82,000 shekels out of millions in revenue, far below the 10 percent threshold that would have justified termination under the contract. The arbitrator also said Barbi had effectively planned the split in advance, after first obtaining client and promoter lists and then having his people contact them directly to book shows without Marmelstein.
The award includes compensation for lost profits, calculated partly as 30 percent of the artist’s profits after the agreement ended, plus nearly half a million shekels in indexation and interest and 950,000 shekels in legal costs. Marmelstein said, "I feel the justice came out," while Barbi said he could not discuss details because arbitration is confidential, but added, "I feel I won" because he is now "more whole, sharper, freer and more believing" in his path.
