Why Did Rolling Stones Delay Start of Israel Concert?

Image by Getty Images
The Rolling Stones have pushed back the start time of their Tel Aviv show to enable religiously observant concert goers to attend.
The Stones are scheduled to perform at Yarkon Park in Tel Aviv on June 4, which is the holiday of Shavuot. The concert originally was scheduled to begin at 8:30, minutes after the end of the holiday.
The band announced over the weekend that it would push the beginning of its concert off to 9:15, after the Tel Aviv Municipality agreed to extend the 11 p.m. curfew on public performances.
“Following many requests from the public, particularly the observant public, to delay the starting hour for the performance, the City of Tel Aviv, together with the production team, decided to change the starting time,” event promoter Shuki Weiss Promotion and Production said in a news release.
Some fans from outside of Jerusalem reportedly have rented apartments in Tel Aviv for Shavuot in order to make it to the concert on time.
Ticket sales for the concert reportedly have been sluggish; it is the Stones’ first-ever concert in Israel.
Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
