Bono and Israeli minister in fierce row after musician likens him to Hitler's right-hand man
U2 frontman Bono and Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir are engaged in a public dispute after Bono compared the politician to Heinrich Himmler in a Rolling Stone interview. The row follows Bono's criticism of the Israeli government's actions in Gaza and Ben-Gvir's subsequent accusations of hypocrisy.
Why it matters
This reflects the intense polarization and high-profile discourse surrounding the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
U2 FRONTMAN BONO and an Israeli minister are in a heated debate after the musician likened the politician to Hitler’s right-hand man, Heinrich Himmler.
In an interview in the magazine Rolling Stone , Bono was asked about U2′s new song, The Tears of Things, which was described as an “elliptical take” on the history of Gaza.
Among other comments, the musician likened Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s national security minister, to Himmler, leader of the SS, and the architect of the “final solution”, the plan to eliminate all Jewish people from Europe.
Ben-Gvir has since hit back, posting on X that “there is no limit to the hypocrisy of the world’s supporters of terrorism”.
In June, the Taoiseach banned Ben-Gvir and finance minister Bezalel Smotrich from entering Ireland, after a video showed Ben-Gvir mocking bound activists who had been detained by Israeli forces on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in