Rumors have been floating around Israel this week that Kanye West wants to make amends for his flagrantly antisemitic statements by performing a show here.
According to a report published recently on the Hebrew-language website, Mako, Kanye West wants to perform in Israel and is negotiating terms for an appearance here.
But many in the Israeli music industry have expressed doubts over whether West’s latest dream will become reality.
West’s history in Israel and antisemitic fallout
West last performed in Israel in September 2015 and also visited the country in April of that year with his then-wife, Kim Kardashian, to have their daughter baptized at St. James Cathedral in the Armenian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. Kardashian is of Armenian descent, and holding the baptism in Jerusalem was reportedly very important to her.
Later, the couple divorced, and West began making rabidly antisemitic statements, including saying he would go "death con 3" on Jews in 2022.
He made a music video called "Heil Hitler," with Nazi imagery in 2025, which received millions of views on YouTube. He also sold swastika T-shirts through his website and bought ads during the Super Bowl broadcast to promote sales of the shirt. Rolling Stone reported that his anti-Jewish hatred had turned him into a “cultural and business pariah.”
But in November 2025, he met with Israeli Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto and expressed remorse for his antisemitic statements. In 2026, West published an open letter in The Wall Street Journal and apologized for his antisemitism, saying he had a brain injury and that he was bipolar. "I lost touch with reality…I'm not a Nazi or an anti-Semite. I love Jews."
In April, he said, "I know it takes time to understand the sincerity of my commitment to rectifying the situation.”
Israeli music industry pushes back
But music-industry insiders in Israel said they doubted that a show by West could or should take place. Producer Gadi Oron told Walla Tarbut that he got an offer to bring West to Israel about two months ago, but after a few days he turned it down because it was not possible in the timeline that was suggested. "Kanye West really wants to come to Israel, because he has been rejected by several countries in Europe, where the market is strongest, and they are having difficulty completing the European tour," Oron told Walla.
"I received the specifications for the show and the conditions. It turns out that it is a 360 show. Such a show can only be presented at the Ramat Gan Stadium.” It turned out that this stadium wouldn’t be available when West wanted to come, and that there were other logistical issues that made the concert impossible, he said.
Shaul Mizrahi, owner of the Barbie Club in Tel Aviv, told Walla that bringing West to Israel was in bad taste, saying that the motivation on the part of Israeli producers would be greed. "Any producer who dares to bring him to Israel, I will call for a boycott,” he said.