Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (c) meets (r-l) Brad Whitford, Joe Perry, Steven Tyler and Tom Hamilton of the rock band Aerosmith at the Prime Minister's Office on May 18, 2017. (Kobi Gidon/GPO)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with members of the rock band Aerosmith on Thursday, joking that they “don’t wan’t to miss a thing” during their Israel trip.
Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Brad Whitford and Tom Hamilton met with the prime minister in Jerusalem following their Wednesday night concert at Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park before an enthusiastic crowd of 50,000.
Sitting down with the band, Netanyahu received groans instead of laughter when he asked them, “Where have you been? This is your second visit right? Well you don’t wan’t to miss a thing,” a reference to the band’s first number one hit.
The prime minister showed the rockers, who last played in Israel 23 years ago, artifacts from the biblical period, including a signet ring from an official working for the biblical king Hezekiah who was named Netanyahu ben Yoash. He told the band that these artifacts show that “we’ve been here a long time.”
Netanyahu also played up the fact that he had spent six years in the band’s home town of Boston, first studying at MIT and then as a consultant.
Get The Times of Israel's Daily Editionby email and never miss our top stories
“You guys are all fake Bostonians,” he told them. “I’m the only one who was there.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (r) with Steve Tyler (c) and Joe Perry of the rock band Aerosmith at the Prime Minister’s Office on May 18, 2017. (Kobi Gidon/GPO)
Despite a request from a photographer, Tyler refused to sing for the prime minister — perhaps the 69-year-old needs to save his voice for the stage.
The Israel show was the first on the rock band’s world tour, which will take it throughout Europe and the US.
Advertisement
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (c) meets (r-l) Joe Perry, Tom Hamilton, Steven Tyler and Brad Whitford of the rock band Aerosmith at the Prime Minister’s Office on May 18, 2017. (Kobi Gidon/GPO)
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
