American rapper moving to Tel Aviv, says Israel revived her creativity

Rapper Azealia Banks announces move to Tel Aviv, says it is “easier to create” in Israel because of the country’s “mature arts scene.”

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

American rapper Azealia Banks has moved to Tel Aviv, saying Israel’s music and arts scene has given her a renewed sense of creative freedom after years of dramatic swings in her relationship with the country.

Banks announced the move Tuesday by posting a photograph of her new home, just two days before a scheduled October 8 performance at the Tel Aviv Amphitheater.

“If you would have told me years ago I’d end up moving to Tel Aviv and liking it, I would have said you’re crazy,” Banks wrote on her X account.

The 35-year-old New York native said the relocation is closely connected to work on her long-awaited new music.

“I’m 5 hours away and here making my album FINALLY,” she wrote, referring to the flight time between Tel Aviv and parts of Europe.

Banks said she has found a group of musicians and collaborators in Israel with whom she feels comfortable working, praising the country’s established creative community.

She said it had become “easier to create here because Israel’s arts scene is really mature.”

“I found some real camaraderie and some really cool music crew here.”

Banks also described a working environment in which political disagreements have not interfered with her ability to make music, contrasting that experience with disputes she has had elsewhere in the entertainment industry.

“This is the most creatively enabled I’ve felt in years,” she wrote.

Banks has recently been working in Israel with veteran producer Yinon Yahel, whose credits include collaborations with Israeli and international pop performers. Organizers of Thursday’s Tel Aviv concert have said the two are working together on material for her new album.

Her decision to make Tel Aviv her home marks a striking turn in a relationship with Israel that has repeatedly shifted between enthusiastic support and fierce denunciation.

Banks first performed in Tel Aviv in 2018, defying pressure from supporters of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement who called on her to cancel the show.

At the time, she denounced efforts to pressure artists into avoiding Israel as “totally antisemitic.”

But shortly after the performance, Banks said she had encountered racism and mistreatment during the trip and publicly swore she would never return.

“I will never ever ever ever ever go to Israel again,” she wrote at the time, telling her Israeli fans they would instead have to travel abroad to see her.

That pledge lasted several years.

By 2025, Banks had dramatically reversed course, declaring herself a Zionist and increasingly using social media to defend Israel and criticize the pro-Palestinian movement.

She returned to Israel in October 2025 for a solidarity visit marking two years since the Hamas-led October 7 massacre.

During the trip, Banks visited Yad Vashem and the site of the Nova music festival massacre and met Israelis affected by the war.

She also performed in Tel Aviv, describing October 7 as a day of “deep remembrance — honoring every life taken, every family touched.”

Her outspoken support for Israel became increasingly unusual in an international entertainment industry in which numerous performers had canceled Israeli appearances or joined calls to boycott the country.

Banks said at the time that her refusal to repeat pro-Palestinian slogans demanded by some European promoters had cost her substantial income and performances.

But her position shifted again in March 2026 amid the escalating war involving Israel, Iran and the United States.

Banks launched a series of attacks on Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and publicly withdrew her support for the country, at one point writing “F*** ISRAEL.”

The reversal proved temporary.

By September, Banks had booked another Israeli concert and was already spending an extended period in Tel Aviv, where she began working with Yahel and other local musicians.

Her October 8 performance will now effectively be her first major Israeli show since announcing that Tel Aviv is no longer merely a destination for visits or concerts, but her home.

The concert is scheduled for Thursday night at the Tel Aviv Amphitheater in Ganei Yehoshua, with organizers promising material from Banks’ catalog including “212,” “Anna Wintour,” “Liquorice” and “The Big Big Beat.”

Banks rose to international prominence with “212” in 2011 and has since developed a devoted following despite — and often alongside — a long history of public feuds, political disputes and abrupt changes in her stated views.