Alanis Morissette is set to perform a concert in Israel later this year.

Alanis Morissette

Alanis Morissette

The 43-year-old singer is heading to Live Park in Rishon Lezion for a one-off gig, where she will be performing some of her best-known hits, which include 'Ironic' and 'Hand in My Pocket'.

The Canadian star hasn't played in Israel since 2012, which came just a few weeks after a cease-fire was introduced to end an eight-day conflict involving Israel in the Hamas-governed Gaza Strip.

At the time, Alanis came under pressure to cancel her planned appearances, but she instead refused and spent several days touring the country.

By contrast, Academy Award-winning actress Natalie Portman recently pulled out of a major awards ceremony in Israel, citing "distress" at recent events in the country as her justification.

Natalie - who was born in Jerusalem but moved to the US as a child - was previously named the winner of the 2018 Genesis award, which recognises individuals who have "attained excellence and international renown in their chosen professional fields [who] embody the character of the Jewish people".

But Natalie, 36, informed the Genesis Prize Foundation that she wouldn't be attending the event, leading to its cancellation.

A representative for the acclaimed actress subsequently explained: "Recent events in Israel have been extremely distressing to her and she does not feel comfortable participating in any public events in Israel."

Prior to that, Lorde cancelled the concert she'd scheduled in Israel for June this year.

The 21-year-old star later issued a statement, thanking her fans for educating her about the situation.

She said: "I've received an overwhelming number of messages and letters and have had a lot of discussions with people holding many views, and I think the right decision at this time is to cancel the show.

"I pride myself on being an informed young citizen, and I had done a lot of reading and sought a lot of opinions before deciding to book a show in Tel Aviv, but I'm not too proud to admit I didn't make the right call on this one."


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