Music

The star has performed in Israel before, and last July he released "We Will Dance Again," a song inspired by the October 7 massacre and the Nova music festival.

The group is scheduled to present a repertoire intended to bridge cultures, including Zohar Argov’s “Yam Shel Dmaot” (“A Sea of Tears”), Abdel Wahab’s “Khayy Khay,” and Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.”

Sheeran also decried "systemic injustice" in the West Bank, where Israel's right-wing coalition government has allowed a massive expansion of ⁠Jewish settlements.

Paloma Faith criticized Ed Sheeran for staying out of the Gaza debate after Macklemore’s tour removal, saying major artists cannot remain apolitical as she defended the rapper’s activism.

Macklemore once apologized after a controversial costume drew accusations of antisemitism. A decade later, his pro-Palestinian activism and criticism of Israel have sparked renewed backlash.

The mural, on a slab that leans against ruined buildings surrounded by rubble, depicts the "Thrift Shop" rapper raising a fist in the air.

AOC said earlier on Wednesday that she is boycotting Sheeran over the Macklemore controversy, accusing pro-Israel philanthropist Robert Kraft of attempting to censor speech on "the genocide in Gaza."

“I am not complicit,” Sheeran wrote in a statement on Instagram Tuesday, saying that Macklemore leaving the tour “was the promoter’s decision, it was not mine.

The Jewish billionaire made the call after the rapper’s accusations at a concert that Israel was committing genocide.

Friends of Zion founder Mike Evans produced “The Whole World Sings Together,” inspired by the 1985 charity anthem “We Are the World.”