Nick Cave calls out Roger Waters for ‘deeply damaging’ attitude to Israel boycott: ‘It’s embarrassing’

Australian musician spoke about his view on cultural boycotts in a new interview, where he also explained how he developed an ‘abiding love’ of the country as a teenager

Nick Cave has responded to the backlash he has received over his ongoing refusal to boycott Israel, as he criticised Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters for what he called a “deeply damaging” attitude.

The Australian musician, 66, released his latest album Wild God with the Bad Seeds today (Friday 30 August), on which he explores themes of doubt and faith.

In a new interview, Cave doubled down on his commitment to defending “free thought” and freedom of expression, while addressing the ongoing row over a cultural boycott of Israel amid its war on Gaza.

“I just feel – and I’m no friend of the government of Israel – but I just feel on some level that I find it difficult to come to terms with using my music in order to punish ordinary people because of the acts of their government. It sort of comes down to that, to some degree,” he told the Reason podcast in an episode released on 28 August.

“These are different people,” he continued, discussing some of the high-profile figures to support a cultural boycott. “Brian Eno is a different kettle of fish to Roger Waters, [who] I think is deeply damaging to the boycott movement. It’s embarrassing. Brian Eno is a different character, he’s a thoughtful individual.”

Waters, 80, has supported the boycott movement since around 2011. Five years earlier, he came under pressure from Palestinians to cancel a planned concert in Tel Aviv, stating at the time that he was “happy to play to anybody who believes in peace. I don’t discriminate between any of my fans, wherever they live. Being an Israeli does not disbar from being a human being.”

Nick Cave addressed prominent supporters of the BDS movement, including Roger Waters and Brian Eno (Getty Images)

In 2018, Waters and Eno were among the high–profile figures calling for a boycott of the Eurovision Song Contest, which was hosted in Tel Aviv that year, as they reaffirmed their support for the Boycott, Divestments and Sanctions movement (BDS).

Cave then published an open letter to Eno, writing that he did not accept his decision to play in the country would suggest “any kind of tacit support for that government’s politics. Nor do I condone the atrocities that you have described; nor am I ignorant of them.”

In January, Waters claimed he was “fired” by his publishing company, BMG, over his inflammatory remarks about Israel last year.

Roger Waters performing at Madison Square Garden in 2022 (Getty Images)

The Independent has contacted representatives for Roger Waters and Brian Eno for comment.

Earlier on in the interview, Cave explained how he became interested in Israel as a teenager after growing up in Jewish areas in Melbourne: “My first girlfriend of three years was a Jewish girl. I just have a relationship with Jewish people, so it’s kind of a personal thing.”

He said he was “fascinated” by the Bible as a young man, and later endeavoured to travel to Israel to see “where all this stuff happened”.

“This is where I could stand on the sea of Galilee, and I could go to where Christ was supposedly crucified… this was extraordinarily excited for me,” he said, “and regardless of all the horrific complications that are going on in Israel at the moment, deep down I have an abiding love for that place [and] the history of the Jewish people.”

Cave then told his host, Nick Gillespie, that he had done “six radio interviews in a row, so if I’m sounding a little bit hysterical and sort of rambling, it might be [that]”.

“The thing is, we don’t really get much s*** about this sort of thing, these days,” he continued, addressing the boycott calls. “The BDS essentially works on the fact that, if you’re gonna play Israel, and they come down hard and you don’t, it’s a win. If you do play Israel, they basically leave you alone.”

Nick Cave said he doesn’t agree with cultural boycotts (Getty Images)

Asked if there were any countries he wouldn’t play, he responded: “I’d have to think about that. Nothing’s sort of jumping out at me. I understand that this is a controversial thing to say, I just don’t agree with a cultural boycott, in general.

“Mostly because it doesn’t even work. Clearly it’s not working in Israel at the moment. In my view, it sort of emboldens the worst aspects of the current government; they exploit the isolationist, ‘The whole world is against us’ [attitude]. It’s used to further their nefarious agendas, and at the same time, punishing ordinary fans.”

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ new album Wild God is out now – you can read Helen Brown’s review here.