Back in 1997, when he was marginally well-known as a member of the Ideological Front, an offshoot of the Kach Movement founded by Meir Kahane, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir bragged that he had succeeded in scaring the late Irish singer Sinead O’Connor away from performing at a benefit concert in Jerusalem.
O’Connor, who had accepted an invitation from an organization called Bat Shlomo to perform at a show in support of making Jerusalem a capital for both Israelis and Palestinians, canceled her appearance after the British Embassy in Israel received a phone call threatening her life if she performed.
In response, O’Connor wrote an open letter to Ben-Gvir stating, “God does not reward those who bring terror to the children of the world. So you have succeeded in nothing but your soul’s failure.”
What was O'Connor accusing Ben-Gvir of?
She didn’t accuse Ben-Gvir of making the death threat but joked to The Jerusalem Post at the time that she was upset that the caller had approached the British Embassy. “He knew I was popular, he just didn’t know where I was from.”
O’Connor, who died Wednesday at age 56, told the Post she hadn’t realized that the concert was controversial.
“If it was going to end up with my life being threatened, I wouldn’t have agreed to perform,” she said. “I don’t live in Israel and I’m not interested in getting involved in internal politics. I have nothing but love for the Jewish and Palestinian people, and I feel sorry for the children growing up in a war-torn country. I also come from a war-torn country.”