Bruce Springsteen Says He’s Ready To Play Israel

Bruce Springsteen Image by Getty Images

By Josefin Dolsten October 7, 2016

Bruce Springsteen just gave Israeli fans hope that they may soon be able to see “The Boss” live in concert.

“I really need to play there,” he told an Israeli fan last week at a book signing event in New Jersey for his new autobiography “Born to Run,” The Times of Israel .

Springsteen also told the fan, Amy Kalman, that the fact that she flew all the way from Israel to meet him “gets a hug.”

Kalman was impressed with how quickly Springsteen expressed his desire to play in the Jewish state.

“There wasn’t even a nanosecond between me saying Israel and him offering the hug and saying he needed to play here,” she told The Times of Israel.

While the rock legend has never played in Israel, his guitarist Steven Van Zandt seems to be on board with a concert in the Jewish state.

In May, amid rumors that Springsteen would perform in Tel Aviv, Van Zandt did not mince his words in addressing criticism from those urging a boycott of Israel.

In a series of tweets, Van Zandt — who is also known for playing a mobster on HBO’s “The Sopranos” — called Israel boycotters “politically ignorant obnoxious idiots” and suggested to one “go f— yourself.”

Josefin Dolsten is a New York-based writer who has reported for the Forward, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, The Times of Israel and other Jewish publications. She currently works as an account director at Fenton Communications, supporting organizations that work to advance racial justice, LGBTQ+ equality, reproductive rights and more. Dolsten earned her B.A. in government from Cornell University and her M.A. in comparative religion and Jewish studies from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO