Thom Yorke, frontman for the British alternative rock band Radiohead, says he will “absolutely not” play in Israel.
The “Creep” singer made his distaste with Israel known to the the Sunday Times, adding he wants to be nowhere near Prime Minister Netanyahu.
“Absolutely not. I wouldn’t want to be 5,000 miles anywhere near the Netanyahu regime,” he said.
As noted by The Guardian, Yorke gave the interview prior to “this month’s ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas,” so it remains unknown if the peace deal softened his opinion. Radiohead previously faced scrutiny from Palestinian activists after lead guitarist and keyboardist Johnny Greenwood performed in Tel Aviv in 2024 during the Israel-Gaza conflict. In 2017, the band defied calls to boycott Israel and performed in Tel Aviv during their A Moon Shaped Pool world tour despite heavy criticism from British cultural figureheads like director Ken Loach.
“Playing in a country isn’t the same as endorsing the government. We’ve played in Israel for over 20 years through a succession of governments, some more liberal than others. As we have in America. We don’t endorse Netanyahu any more than Trump, but we still play in America,” Yorke said in a statement on Twitter (now X) at the time.
Yorke also expressed misgivings with the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, calling it “disrespectful.”
“It’s deeply disrespectful to assume that we’re either being misinformed or that we’re so retarded we can’t make these decisions ourselves. I thought it was patronizing in the extreme. It’s offensive,” he said.
Paul Roland Bois directed the award-winning Christian tech thriller, EXEMPLUM, which has a 100% Rotten Tomatoes critic rating and can be viewed for FREE on YouTube, Tubi, or Fawesome TV. “Better than Killers of the Flower Moon,” wrote Mark Judge. “You haven’t seen a story like this before,” wrote Christian Toto. A high-quality, ad-free rental can also be streamed on Google Play, Vimeo on Demand, or YouTube Movies. Follow him on X @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.
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