Israelis who attended an Independence Day concert in Rehovot complained that one of the music groups appearing at the event, called “Franklin,” sang an extremely offensive song that equated Israeli with Nazi Germany on the eve of World War II.
According to one spectator, he was “shocked” to be witnessing such a performance on Israel Independence Day. “I don't have a problem with the group's songs – if that's what they choose to perform, that's their choice,” the spectator said in a Facebook posting. “But I would expect the municipality to choose for an Independence Day concert artists who express the essence of Israeli identity, not those who seek a platform to criticize the state.
“This is not a day for this kind of political statement,” the spectator wrote. “Not only was it Independence Day, it was also just a week after Holocaust Remembrance Day. Couldn't they have found someone with a little more national pride?”
In a statement, the Municipality said that they had “received numerous complaints and we are learning from the incident.”
In its own Facebook posting, the group said that it regretted nothing. Addressing critics, the group wrote that “you can continue to promise your kids peace and shove a weapon in their hand, and we promise that we will continue to sing about how afraid we are to die in your cursed wars. You can continue to listen to young bands and hear nothing but curse words, instead of listening to their messages of peace and freedom. We realized that with great power comes great responsibility, and we have great power – but we will use it as we see fit.”