Damar Harsanto, Jakarta – Jakarta gubernatorial candidate pair Anies Baswedan and Sandiaga Uno have rejected allegations that their campaign jingle "Ayo Kobarkan Semangat Jakarta" sounds highly similar to the song "Hashem Meleh" by Jewish singer Gad Elbaz.

Anies' campaign team said on its webpage jakartamajubersama.com that the song was adapted from the Prosperous Justice Party's jingle "Kobarkan Semangat Indonesia" sung by late PKS secretary general Taufiq Ridho during his presidential election campaign in 2014.

"Therefore, it is impossible that the song "Kobarkan Semangat Indonesia" was plagiarized from the Israeli band's song as our song came first, in April 2014, while the Israeli band released its song later, in January 2016," the statement read.

The statement, however, is in contradiction with the fact that the song "Hashem Meleh" was uploaded on Jan 27, 2013, as can be seen on the official Youtube account of Gad Elbaz.

Meanwhile, Anies' team insisted that their jingle also sounded similar to another song, "C'est La Vie" by singer Cheb Khaled of Algeria.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/04/07/anies-denies-campaign-jingle-copying-jewish-song.html