Rapper Azealia Banks performs in Tel Aviv, draped in Israeli flag

American rapper, singer, and songwriter Azealia Banks was draped in an Israeli flag, wearing a Star of David necklace, when she opened her Thursday night show in Tel Aviv’s Ganei Yehoshua amphitheater at Yarkon Park.

It was a rare performance by a foreign artist in Israel since the October 7, 2023 Hamas massacre and subsequent war in the Gaza Strip as many international performers have stayed away from Israel due to the growing cultural boycott against the country.

Banks, who has repeatedly sparred with other celebrities online over her outspoken support for Israel, ended the Tel Aviv concert wearing a shirt printed with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s name, stating that she gets stronger every time she is canceled for her statements.

“I love the Jews, my love story with the Jews goes far, far back,” she said.

During her time in Israel, Banks has repeatedly addressed the issue of the cultural boycott on social media, including after she visited the Nova site on Tuesday, October 7, on the second anniversary of the Hamas attack.

She shared Instagram stories from the site with her more than 300,000 followers, of the family memorials and monuments erected in the memory of those killed at the festival.

“I still don’t understand how the music industry hasn’t treated this as a direct attack on the freedom and purity of simply enjoying and being free at a music festival,” said Banks on Instagram. “It’s just devastating.”

In September, hundreds of musicians asked for their works to be blocked from distribution in Israel as part of an initiative called “No Music for Genocide.”

Banks responded this week with an Instagram story posting that she was still able to access Icelandic artist Bjork while in Israel, although the musician appears to have joined the music boycott of Israel as her work recently became unavailable to Israelis via two key streaming services.

During one of Banks’ ongoing social media streams, she posted on X that Israel is “definitely not an apartheid. This is not 1960s Alabama and never was.”

Banks’ performance marked the artist’s first return to Israel since 2018, when she vowed never to come back following a series of allegedly racist encounters during her visit.

The artist appeared to have a change of heart about Israel in June when she declared “I’m a Zionist” on X.

Banks continued to engage with followers on social media, particularly on X, where hours after her Thursday night Tel Aviv show, she announced that she would dress up as the Queen of Sheba for Halloween, the biblical figure frequently portrayed as a Black woman, mentioned in the Hebrew bible for her visit with King Solomon.

Banks also retweeted comments made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about nominating US President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in attaining the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, and responded to a comment on X by British far-right activist Tommy Robinson.

She also wrote on X, “Israel is a vibe. There’s so much North African and Arab influence in the city culture except everyone is walking around drinking green juice and carrying surfboards like it’s LA 2004.”