Musician Nick Cave, an international rock and roll superstar known for his uncompromising lyrical compositions, called boycotts of Israel "cowardly and shameful" in a letter sent to fellow singer Brian Eno, who recently endorsed the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement.
Cave, who has performed in Israel numerous times, has a record of offering full-throated defenses of the Jewish state in the past. His latest letter, sent privately to Eno and later publicly released,
"Cave wrote that engaging with the Israeli population could have a much greater effect than a boycott," according to the Israeli daily Haaretz. "He wrote that he realized it would make a more powerful statement 'to go to Israel and tell the press and the Israeli people how you feel about their current regime, then do a concert on the understanding that the purpose of your music was to speak to the Israeli people's better angels.'"
Cave said that political disagreements with the Israeli government should not stop artists from bringing their music to Israel and the Jewish people.