His campaign forced Sinead O’Connor to scrap a 1997 Jerusalem concert. Now he is a Cabinet minister

KIFI

Published July 27, 2023 2:00 PM

By ISABEL DEBRE
Associated Press

JERUSALEM (AP) — When death threats forced Irish pop singer Sinead O’Connor to call off a peace concert in Jerusalem in the summer of 1997, a young man named Itamar Ben-Gvir took credit for the campaign against her. Today, he is Israel’s national security minister. The transformation of Ben-Gvir from a fringe Israeli extremist trying to take down O’Connor’s coexistence-themed concert to the powerful minster overseeing the Israeli police force reflects the rise of Israel’s far-right. O’Connor died Wednesday in London. While most people may remember her for her hit cover of Prince’s ballad “Nothing Compares 2 U,” many Israelis on Thursday remembered her for her open letter castigating Ben-Gvir.

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