First Night: Sir Paul McCartney, Hayarkon Park, Tel Aviv – Reviews, Music – The Independent
But by the time he got to “Here Comes The Sun” and “Back In The USSR”, an hour into the set, the crowd were warmed up – with even the paramedics dancing on the grass. They joined in with “Let It Be” and “Get Back” and when he exhorted them to “ashiru iti Alan Jude” (“sing with me Hey Jude”) they were well up for it.

Well I never heard “Here Comes The Sun”. Perhaps that song was only for the people in the expensive seats?

Oh, and the crowd were definitely more impressed with Live and Let Die than Give Peace a Chance.

Damn fine show but I have to say the whole pyrotechnics for Live and Let Die made it a fav (I know, it’s a Wings song but a damn fine one). Certainly it knocked into a cocked hat the old staple “Give Peace a Chance”.

And to top it all, no riots, killer cars or other disturbances. But please, Paul, for pete’s sake cut out the Hebrew. I’m bad but that was just embarrassing. I’m sure tons of it will show up on YouTube, I didn’t even take a proper cell phone.

10% of which will be his security personnel.

Sir Paul McCartney is being guarded by 5000 security men and 20 Mossad agents following death threats from Islamic extremists in Israel.

More than s1.5million has been spent to ensure the safety of the former Beatle, who has a gig in Tel Aviv tonight.

Yesterday, Macca cancelled a planned trip to Ramallah because of a security threat.

Intelligence sources say McCartney’s been granted more protection than US President George Bush when he visited.

Officers from MI6 have even been drafted in, as well as Macca’s own security team.

A source said: “The level of security is unlike anything we’ve ever seen.”

Sir Paul’s team have hired out three whole floors of the five-star Dan Hotel in Tel Aviv.

Twenty-one suites have been taken up at a cost of s70,000 to ensure no one gets near the star.

A source said: “Only security and a handful of Macca’s entourage will be anywhere near him.

“Although there is a threat, Sir Paul is determined to give the people of Israel a concert to remember.

“Nothing would have kept him away.”

Macca, 66, and his partner Nancy Shevell landed in Israel in the early hours of yesterday, ahead of his performance in front of 70,000 people at Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park.

There have already been several specific threats against Macca.

The sad thing is, even 5,000 security personnel can’t protect Macca against his touchy-feely Israeli PR person.

Meanwhile, some in the mainstream media are reporting that Macca faces “extremist threats,” as if the threats in question – a death threat from an Islamic cleric and a threat to disrupt the concert from a group of “right-wing” Jewish activists- are somehow equivalent. They paint both sets of “extremists” as being angry at McCartney’s message of peace and love, even though it is clear the Jewish activists are protesting something else entirely. And they are reporting that the Jewish group has threatened to “cause a riot”, even though it is clear later on in the report that they threatening no such thing.

The world may have changed a lot since the 1965 ban, but McCartney’s “Friendship First” concert is no less controversial, with both Arab and Jewish extremists furious at his belated arrival in the Holy Land with his message of peace and love.

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A radical Islamist cleric has warned McCartney that he will earn the enmity of the Muslim world for playing the gig in Tel Aviv as part of the celebrations to mark Israel’s 60th birthday. And right-wing Jewish activists have threatened to cause a riot to protest against what they perceive as British anti-Semitism.

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There have already been specific threats against McCartney’s concert in Israel. Omar Bakri Mohammed, the radical Muslim preacher based in Lebanon after being banned from Britain, said recently that suicide bombers could attack the gig in protest against the singer’s patronage of Israel. He declared McCartney to be “the enemy of every Muslim”.

“If he values his life, Mr McCartney must not come to Israel. He will not be safe there. The sacrifice operatives will be waiting for him,” the hardline preacher told the Sunday Express. McCartney was said to be “shocked but not intimidated” by the comments, telling Israeli reporters: “I was approached by different groups and political bodies who asked me not to come here. I refused. I do what I think and I have many friends who support Israel.”

Extreme right-wing Jewish groups said they would try to disrupt the concert in protest over calls in Britain to scrap plans to rent new embassy premises in Tel Aviv from a company controlled by the London-based billionaire Lev Leviev, whom critics accuse of helping to develop Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

Itamar Ben Gvir, a prominent right-wing activist, said that he and his followers would do their best to make McCartney’s visit a failure.

“We are going to disrupt McCartney’s concert on Thursday. We will spread a public appeal calling people to join us,” he said. “We are going to create a balanced formula whereby British people who come here will suffer, just as Israelis suffer in Britain when they are being threatened and condemned by anti-Semitic elements. It cannot be that Mr Lev Leviev will suffer threats to his life in Britain, while Mr McCartney will come here and get the honour of being treated like a star.”

While I don’t agree with the actions of Itamar Ben Gvir and his group, you simply cannot classify their threat as a threat to riot, and you certainly can’t compare it to threatening to kill.

But what’s a little demonization between friends?

In any event, here’s hoping the concert goes well for all of those lucky (or wealthy) enough to be attending.

Now he’s getting death threats.

Former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney’s decision to perform in Tel Aviv has made him the target of a terror attack following a threat made against the singer by extremist Islamic leader Omar Bakri.

Bakri’s threat was made in a weekly Internet broadcast from Lebanon, where he has lived in exile since being banned from returning to Britain. The 48-year-old Syrian national questioned the Holocaust’s authenticity, and asked how McCartney could participate in the celebration of the independence of the Jewish state.

“Instead of supporting the people of Palestine in their suffering, McCartney is celebrating the atrocities of the occupiers. The one who is under occupation is supposed to be getting the help,” Bakri said. “Our enemy’s friend is our enemy,” the Muslim leader told the Sunday Express.

“Thus Paul McCartney is the enemy of every Muslim. We have what we call ‘sacrifice’ operatives who will not stand by while he joins in a celebration of their oppression. If he values his life Mr. McCartney must not come to Israel. He will not be safe there. The sacrifice operatives will be waiting for him.”

McCartney, who was apparently shocked by the threat, was determined to perform in Israel and refused to cancel his show. His spokesman responded by saying that McCartney intended to come with a “message of peace”. On Saturday, McCartney said he was approached by several political groups who asked him to cancel the trip, but he declined.

Good on Paul for (so far) not backing down.

Here’s hoping that Bakri doesn’t get smart and threaten to buy Heather Mills a ticket to Israel.

Sir Paul McCartney has insisted his first show in Israel will go ahead, despite pressure from campaigners who want him to cancel it.

The 65-year-old will perform some of his biggest Beatles and solo hits at the Tel Aviv gig later this month.

But protesters asked him to reconsider over Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and its Gaza Strip blockade.

He told newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth: “I refused. I do what I think, and I have many friends who support Israel.”

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In a statement confirming the concert on McCartney’s website last month, he said: “I’ve heard so many great things about Tel Aviv and Israel, but hearing is one thing and experiencing it for yourself is another.

“We are planning to have a great time and a great evening. We can’t wait to get out there and rock.”