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Famed Amsterdam Concert Hall Cancels Hanukkah Concert Over Lead Singer’s Ties to Israeli Army
A view of the Concertgebouw building in Amsterdam, Netherlands on Aug. 26, 2024. Photo: Jakub Porzycki via Reuters Connect
The Concertgebouw in Amsterdam has canceled its annual Hanukkah concert because of the performance’s lead singer, Shai Abramson, and his ties to the Israeli military, the famed concert hall announced on Sunday.
Concertgebouw said it made the “difficult decision” to terminate its agreement with the Hanukkah Concert Foundation regarding the Dec. 14 event after organizers were unable to agree on an alternative lead singer for the performance, which will take place on the eve of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.
“Making this decision was extremely difficult,” said Managing Director Simon Reinink in a released statement. “Only in very exceptional cases do we make an exception to our important principle of artistic freedom. To our great sadness, such an exception is now taking place. The planned performance of the chief cantor of the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] is contrary to our mission: to connect people with music.”
Abramson serves as the chief cantor for the IDF and has performed at Israeli military ceremonies. The Concertgebouw claimed in a statement on Sunday that Abramson “has an important role” in the IDF and “represents the IDF in official matters.” It described his as a “visible representative” of the Israeli military, which it described as “actively involved in a controversial war.”
The Hanukkah Concert Foundation called the decision a violation of religious freedom and said it will take legal action, according to the Dutch publication NL Times. The foundation also defended Abramson, saying in a released statement that he “is an independent musician and, like many Israeli citizens, a reservist.”
“His participation in national ceremonies does not make him a manager, spokesperson, or representative official of the Israeli military, despite repeated suggestions to the contrary by the Concertgebouw,” the foundation added. “We cannot and will not comply with a limitation on religious freedom and this isolating and polarizing action. The Concertgebouw is essentially asking: replace your religious leader. That is not their authority.” The foundation also stated that Concertgebouw’s decision furthers “the isolation in which the Jewish community feels it is being pushed in today’s climate.”
The concert hall in Amsterdam said it had been in discussions with the Hanukkah Concert Foundation since the summer about the upcoming performance and asked the foundation “several” times to replace Abramson with another singer, but the foundation refused. “Unfortunately, no other solution was found. The Concertgebouw was then forced to terminate the agreement with the foundation,” the venue explained on Sunday.
“The Concertgebouw understands the position of the foundation and that this issue is extremely sensitive for the foundation,” the concert hall said, adding that it “remains open to a different interpretation of the concert by the foundation. In a time of increasing antisemitism, we find it important to emphasize that Het Concertgebouw will always remain a place where the Jewish community is welcome.”
Zvi Aviner-Vapni, Israel’s ambassador to the Netherlands, called the cancellation of the Dec. 14 performance “shameful and appalling” in a post on X. He explained that military service is mandatory in Israel and that “by excluding an artist for his service, they betray their own stated mission to unite through music.”
“This hypocrisy and discrimination are not culture. It looks more like caving in to some hateful crowd,” he added, referring to pressure from anti-Israel groups to cancel the performance.
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Tucker’s Ideas About Jews Come from Darkest Corners of the Internet, Says Huckabee After Combative Interview
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee looks on during the day he visits the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem’s Old City, April 18, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – In a combative interview with US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, right-wing firebrand Tucker Carlson made a host of contentious and often demonstrably false claims that quickly went viral online. Huckabee, who repeatedly challenged the former Fox News star during the interview, subsequently made a long post on X, identifying a pattern of bad-faith arguments, distortions and conspiracies in Carlson’s rhetorical style.
Huckabee pointed out his words were not accorded by Carlson the same degree of attention and curiosity the anchor evinced toward such unsavory characters as “the little Nazi sympathizer Nick Fuentes or the guy who thought Hitler was the good guy and Churchill the bad guy.”
“What I wasn’t anticipating was a lengthy series of questions where he seemed to be insinuating that the Jews of today aren’t really same people as the Jews of the Bible,” Huckabee wrote, adding that Tucker’s obsession with conspiracies regarding the provenance of Ashkenazi Jews obscured the fact that most Israeli Jews were refugees from the Arab and Muslim world.
The idea that Ashkenazi Jews are an Asiatic tribe who invented a false ancestry “gained traction in the 80’s and 90’s with David Duke and other Klansmen and neo-Nazis,” Huckabee wrote. “It has really caught fire in recent years on the Internet and social media, mostly from some of the most overt antisemites and Jew haters you can find.”
Carlson branded Israel “probably the most violent country on earth” and cited the false claim that Israel President Isaac Herzog had visited the infamous island of the late, disgraced sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“The current president of Israel, whom I know you know, apparently was at ‘pedo island.’ That’s what it says,” Carlson said, citing a debunked claim made by The Times reporter Gabrielle Weiniger. “Still-living, high-level Israeli officials are directly implicated in Epstein’s life, if not his crimes, so I think you’d be following this.”
Another misleading claim made by Carlson was that there were more Christians in Qatar than in Israel.
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Pezeshkian Says Iran Will Not Bow to Pressure Amid US Nuclear Talks
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian attends the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit 2025, in Tianjin, China, September 1, 2025. Iran’s Presidential website/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Saturday that his country would not bow its head to pressure from world powers amid nuclear talks with the United States.
“World powers are lining up to force us to bow our heads… but we will not bow our heads despite all the problems that they are creating for us,” Pezeshkian said in a speech carried live by state TV.
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Italy’s RAI Apologizes after Latest Gaffe Targets Israeli Bobsleigh Team
Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics – Bobsleigh – 4-man Heat 1 – Cortina Sliding Centre, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy – February 21, 2026. Adam Edelman of Israel, Menachem Chen of Israel, Uri Zisman of Israel, Omer Katz of Israel in action during Heat 1. Photo: REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
Italy’s state broadcaster RAI was forced to apologize to the Jewish community on Saturday after an off‑air remark advising its producers to “avoid” the Israeli crew was broadcast before coverage of the Four-Man bobsleigh event at the Winter Olympics.
The head of RAI’s sports division had already resigned earlier in the week after his error-ridden commentary at the Milano Cortina 2026 opening ceremony two weeks ago triggered a revolt among its journalists.
On Saturday, viewers heard “Let’s avoid crew number 21, which is the Israeli one” and then “no, because …” before the sound was cut off.
RAI CEO Giampaolo Rossi said the incident represented a “serious” breach of the principles of impartiality, respect and inclusion that should guide the public broadcaster.
He added that RAI had opened an internal inquiry to swiftly determine any responsibility and any potential disciplinary procedures.
In a separate statement RAI’s board of directors condemned the remark as “unacceptable.”
The board apologized to the Jewish community, the athletes involved and all viewers who felt offended.
RAI is the country’s largest media organization and operates national television, radio and digital news services.
The union representing RAI journalists, Usigrai, had said Paolo Petrecca’s opening ceremony commentary had dealt “a serious blow” to the company’s credibility.
His missteps included misidentifying venues and public figures, and making comments about national teams that were widely criticized.