British pop singer Boy George has travelled to Israel for two concerts, in a show of support for the country amid an international campaign by artists to boycott it over its actions in the Palestinian Territories.

In Jerusalem on Monday, the 65-year-old met Israeli President Isaac Herzog and former Hamas hostage Elkana Bohbot, who survived the militant group’s attack on the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023.

Herzog praised Boy George for his public support for Israel, presenting him with a sculpture of red anemones, inspired by the memorial installations at the site of the Nova festival in the Negev desert.

 

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The Karma Chameleon singer, who has also visited the Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem and the Nova festival site, is scheduled to perform sold-out concerts in Tel Aviv on Wednesday and Thursday.

His visit comes at a time of growing cultural isolation for Israel. Since the start of the Gaza war, international artists have cancelled performances in Israel or joined calls for a boycott.

Boy George, by contrast, has publicly expressed solidarity with Israel and the Jewish population.

Earlier this year he released the song We Will Dance Again, as a tribute to the victims of the Nova festival. The singer said his support for Israel had cost him friends, threats and career setbacks.

Critics accused the musician of using the song to justify Israel’s conduct of the war in the Gaza Strip and of ignoring the suffering of the Palestinian civilian population.

Boy George also weighed in on the controversy that erupted when fellow pop star Ed Sheeran dropped rapper Macklemore from his tour over pro-Palestine comments made during a concert.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas-led fighters killed around 1200 people in Israel and took 251 others to Gaza as hostages. Israel responded by launching a massive offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 74,500 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health authority.