U2’s Bono Condemns Israeli Government Over War in Gaza

August 11, 2025 JTA

Rock singer and peace activist Bono is shown here at the 78th annual Cannes Film Festival last May. (Lionel Hahn/Getty Images, courtesy of JTA)

By Grace Gilson

In the immediate aftermath of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, Bono stood out among performers and celebrities for dedicating a song to the hundreds of “beautiful kids” murdered at the Nova music festival.

At a Las Vegas area concert just days after the terrorist attack, Bono changed the lyrics of U2’s tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “Pride (In The Name of Love),” to, “Early morning, Oct. 7/Sun is rising in the desert sky/Stars of David, they took your life/They could not take your pride.”

But now, Bono and his bandmates of nearly five decades — bassist Adam Clayton. drummer Larry Mullen Jr. and guitarist The Edge (born David Evans) — have broken their silence on the subsequent two years of conflict to denounce the Israeli government for its prosecution of the war in Gaza.

“We know Hamas are using starvation as a weapon in the war, but now so too is Israel, and I feel revulsion for the moral failure,” said Bono in an extensive statement posted Sunday, Aug. 10, to Instagram. “The Government of Israel is not the nation of Israel, but the government of Israel led by Benjamin Netanyahu today deserves a categorical and unequivocal condemnation.”

Bono’s statement, which was joined by shorter statements from his bandmates, referred to widespread support for the Palestinian cause in his native Ireland. He also cited Jewish public figures who have come out as sharply critical of Israel’s ongoing offensive in Gaza.

“If not Irish voices, please please please stop and listen to Jewish ones — from the high mindedness of Rabbi Sharon Brous, to the tearful comedy of the Grody-Patinkin family — who fear the damage to Judaism, as well as Israel’s neighbours,” said Bono, referring to the rabbi of IKAR in Los Angeles and the actor Mandy Patinkin and his wife Kathryn Grody, who recently called on Jews to reflect on the war in Gaza in an interview with The New York Times Magazine. “Listen to the more than 100,000 Israelis who this week in Tel Aviv protested for an end to the war.”

Rabbi Brous reposted Bono’s statement on Instagram Sunday, writing, “We stand together for human dignity, the sanctity of every life, and a future built on justice and compassion.”

Last May when U2 received the Ivors Academy Fellowship Award, Bono used his acceptance speech to condemn the Israeli government’s prosecution of the Gaza war while also criticizing Hamas. But in his statement, which criticizes Hamas extensively while saying that “Israel’s leaders fell for this trap that Hamas laid for them,” he said he had held back from speaking more forcefully about the war in in part because he recalled the brutality and “evil” of Hamas’ attack.

Bono, 65, who was born Paul David Hewson in Dublin, pledged to donate an unspecified amount to the group Medical Aid For Palestinians, and called on the “good people in Israel” to demand expanded aid distribution in Gaza and the West Bank.

“Our band stands in solidarity with the people of Palestine who truly seek a path to peace and coexistence with Israel and with their rightful and legitimate demand for statehood,” the statement continued. “We stand in solidarity with the remaining hostages and plead that someone rational negotiate their release.”

Grace Gilson wrote this article for the JTA global Jewish news source.