American rocker resists BDS, draws 45,000 fans in Tel Aviv

With all the talk of the Boycott Divestment Sanctions (BDS) movement and artists being pressured to cancel their Israel concerts it was a breath of fresh air when legendary rocker Jon Bon Jovi extolled the strength of Israelis last week at a sold-out concert in Tel Aviv.

Bon Jovi resisted a massive campaign BDS directed at him to cancel the concert — apparently 5,000 letters calling for him to cancel.

“But he said ‘I chose Israel and I’m coming, no one will cancel my show.’ This is an example of an old school artist that isn’t afraid about his career,” said Bluestone Entertainment promoter Guy Beser.

The artist’s band and family members who accompanied them stayed on to tour the Israel for several days after the concert.

Bon Jovi last performed here in 2015.

“Well, good evening, Tel Aviv. I told you we’d be back. We have a lot of catching up to do. I’m not going to do a lot of talking.”

Last week, the New Jersey native dedicated his song, “We Don’t Run” to the crowd (again) as he did in 2015.

“This one is for the incredible people of Israel – for their strength, for their love – this one is for them,” he said.