(Amy Harris/Invision/AP)

Radiohead performed in Israel and did not give in to pressure by anti-Israel activists to cancel their concert in the Jewish state. We must thank them!

After facing much criticism from anti-Israel activities and supporters of boycotts on the Jewish State, Radiohead ascended the stage in Tel Aviv on Wednesday night and gave a spectacular concert to 47,000 excited fans.

In its ninth performance in Israel, the legendary band played 27 songs from its 25-year history, giving its longest concert in 11 years.

In the months leading up to the concert, a group of activists who support boycotts of Israel called for Radiohead to cancel the show. Anti-Israel activists worked hard to sabotage the event; at a recent Radiohead show at the Greek Theater Berkeley in California, for instance, a large banner was held up chastising them for playing in the “apartheid” State of Israel.

Radiohead did not buckle to the pressure. Lead singer Thom Yorke had an ongoing exchange of blows with the Israel haters.

Speaking to Rolling Stone Magazine, Yorke said that to be “totally honest with you, this has been extremely upsetting. There’s an awful lot of people who don’t agree with the BDS movement, including us. I don’t agree with the cultural ban at all.”

He added that “it’s deeply disrespectful to assume that we’re either being misinformed or that we’re so retarded we can’t make these decisions ourselves. I thought it was patronizing in the extreme. It’s offensive and I just can’t understand why going to play a rock show or going to lecture at a university [is a problem for them].”

“A lot of stuff was said about this. In the end, we played some music,” Yorke said onstage, his only reference to the vicious campaign against the concert he was about to conclude.

Radiohead’s concert represents a massive defeat for the BDS movement.

We must thank Radiohead for standing with Israel, in defiance of the campaign to boycott Israel and ultimately destroy it.