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Marcus Mumford to perform at controversial joint Israeli-Palestinian memorial event
(JTA) — Marcus Mumford, the lead singer and guitarist of British folk rock band Mumford and Sons, will perform in a pre-recorded music video at a joint Israeli-Palestinian memorial service in Tel Aviv next week, giving a celebrity imprimatur to an event that draws perennial controversy in Israel.
Mumford has been involved with one of the event’s organizers, the Parents Circle-Families Forum, which brings together bereaved Israeli and Palestinian families, since 2014 when he met its Jewish cofounder, a mother whose son had been killed by a Palestinian sniper. He has visited Israel and the West Bank and performed in events promoting coexistence in Israel and the United States, including with his longtime friend, the Palestinian rapper Tamer Nafar.
The April 24 ceremony, which marks the beginning of Israel’s Memorial Day, or Yom HaZikaron, has drawn backlash in Israel for commemorating Palestinian victims of the conflict alongside Israelis killed in war and terror attacks. This year, as in previous years, Israel’s defense minister has declined to issue permits to allow Palestinians to cross from the West Bank into Israel to attend the event, citing “the complex security situation” in the West Bank.
The defense minister, Yoav Gallant, issued his decision at an especially tense time in Israel, which has experienced escalating Israeli-Palestinian violence alongside weeks of protests against the government’s proposal to sap the Israeli Supreme Court of much of its power. Last month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired Gallant — and subsequently reversed that decision — after Gallant called for a pause in the court reform.
The other group organizing the memorial, Combatants for Peace — which is comprised of former Israeli soldiers and Palestinian militants who now advocate for nonviolence — attributed Gallant’s decision to his near-termination.
“Gallant is frightened by the threat of dismissal & has fallen in line with the silencing of voices,” Combatants for Peace said in a statement on Twitter. “The ceremony is how hundreds of bereaved families remember their loved ones. It represents the future that is possible here – a joint future of dignity & human rights for ALL.”
In the past, decisions like Gallant’s have been overturned by Israel’s Supreme Court, which has allowed West Bank Palestinians to attend the event. The groups organizing the event will be petitioning the Supreme Court to overturn this decision as well.
(The event is a case study of sorts in the conflict between the Supreme Court, which says it is upholding basic rights, and the Israeli right wing, which believes the court’s decisions contravene the will of Israel’s elected government. After the court reversed a ban on Palestinian participants in the ceremony in 2019, Netanyahu said in a statement, “The High Court’s decision is mistaken and disappointing. There should not be a ceremony that equates the blood of our sons to the blood of terrorists. That’s why I refused to allow the entry of the ceremony participants, and I believe the High Court should not have intervened in my decision.”)
Mumford is not the first celebrity to participate in the Israeli-Palestinian memorial ceremony. Actor Richard Gere appeared via video in 2021, and last year’s ceremony featured popular Jewish Israeli actress and comedian Rivka Michaeli and Arab Israeli actor George Iskandar, along with live and recorded musical performances.
“Today more than ever it is important to recognize that two peoples call this place their homeland, and it is time to act together to realize this partnership and create a better future here for everyone,” Combatants for Peace said in a statement thanking Mumford for his appearance. “When we collectively remember our loved ones lost in conflict, we do just that.”
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The post Marcus Mumford to perform at controversial joint Israeli-Palestinian memorial event appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Exclusive: Israeli Officials Harshly Critical of Steve Witkoff’s Influence on US Policy on Gaza, Iran, i24NEWS Told
US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, Washington, DC, Jan. 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria
i24 News – Amid growing disagreements with the Trump administration over the composition of the Board of Peace for Gaza and the question of a strike on Iran, officials in Israel point to a key figure behind decisions seen as running counter to Israeli interests: Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.
The officials mention sustained dissatisfaction with Witkoff. Sources close to the PM Netanyahu told i24NEWS on Saturday evening: “For several months now, the feeling has been that envoy Steve Witkoff has strong ties, for his own reasons, across the Middle East, and that at times the Israeli interest does not truly prevail in his decision-making.”
This criticism relates both to the proposed inclusion of Turkey and Qatar in Gaza’s governing bodies and to the Iranian threat. A senior Israeli official put it bluntly: “If it turns out that he is among those blocking a strike on Iran, that is far more than a coincidence.”
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EU Warns of Downward Spiral After Trump Threatens Tariffs Over Greenland
European Union flags flutter outside the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on June 17, 2022. Photo: Reuters/Yves Herman
European Union leaders on Saturday warned of a “dangerous downward spiral” over US President Donald Trump‘s vow to implement increasing tariffs on European allies until the US is allowed to buy Greenland.
“Tariffs would undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral. Europe will remain united, coordinated, and committed to upholding its sovereignty,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU Council President Antonio Costa said in posts on X.
The bloc’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said tariffs would hurt prosperity on both sides of the Atlantic, while distracting the EU from its “core task” of ending Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“China and Russia must be having a field day. They are the ones who benefit from divisions among allies,” Kallas said on X.
“Tariffs risk making Europe and the United States poorer and undermine our shared prosperity. If Greenland’s security is at risk, we can address this inside NATO.”
Ambassadors from the European Union’s 27 countries will convene on Sunday for an emergency meeting to discuss their response to the tariff threat.
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Israel Says US Gaza Executive Board Composition Against Its Policy
FILE PHOTO: Displaced Palestinians shelter at a tent camp in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, January 14, 2026. REUTERS/Haseeb Alwazeer/File Photo
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Saturday that this week’s Trump administration announcement on the composition of a Gaza executive board was not coordinated with Israel and ran counter to government policy.
It said Foreign Minister Gideon Saar would raise the issue with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The statement did not specify what part of the board’s composition contradicted Israeli policy. An Israeli government spokesperson declined to comment.
The board, unveiled by the White House on Friday, includes Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. Israel has repeatedly opposed any Turkish role in Gaza.
Other members of the executive board include Sigrid Kaag, the U.N. special coordinator for the Middle East peace process; an Israeli‑Cypriot billionaire; and a minister from the United Arab Emirates, which established relations with Israel in 2020.
Washington this week also announced the start of the second phase of President Donald Trump’s plan, announced in September, to end the war in Gaza. This includes creating a transitional technocratic Palestinian administration in the enclave.
The first members of the so-called Board of Peace – to be chaired by Trump and tasked with supervising Gaza’s temporary governance – were also named. Members include Rubio, billionaire developer Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.