Lana Del Rey cancels Israel concert

Sept. 1 (UPI) -- U.S. pop star Lana Del Rey announced via Twitter she has canceled her planned concert in Israel.

"It's important to me to perform in both Palestine and Israel and treat all my fans equally," the 33-year-old singer tweeted Friday. "Unfortunately it hasn't been possible to line up both visits with such short notice and therefore I'm postponing my appearance at the Meteor Festival until a time when I can schedule visits for both my Israeli and Palestinian fans, as well as hopefully other countries in the region."

The BBC reported Del Rey backed out of the Sept. 7 headlining gig after activists demanded she cancel in protest of Israel's policies towards the Palestinians.

She initially defended her decision to perform at the festival, which is scheduled to take place at the Kibbutz Lehavot Habashan.

"I would like to remind you that performing in Tel Aviv is not a political statement or a commitment to the politics there," she tweeted on Aug. 19.