McCartney to play Israel despite protests

LONDON, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- Rock 'n' roll icon Paul McCartney says he will perform as planned in Tel Aviv, despite pressure from those protesting Israel's occupation of the West Bank.

The upcoming concert marks the 65-year-old singer's first performance in Israel, the BBC said. The country's government canceled a scheduled Beatles gig in 1965, citing McCartney's famous band wasn't a good influence on Israel's youth.

Ron Prosor, Israel's ambassador to the United Kingdom, publicly apologized to the Beatles for the slight during a trip to the band's native Liverpool earlier this year.

Although McCartney accepted the olive branch and agreed to perform in Tel Aviv this month, he has been urged by protesters to cancel the concert, the BBC said.

"I refused. I do what I think and I have many friends who support Israel," McCartney told the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.

"The Beatles had a pretty positive influence on the world and only regimes that wanted to control their peoples were afraid of us," he said of the decision to cancel the 1965 Israeli concert. "We mostly laughed at the Israeli government decision."