Bono speaks out against Hamas, Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli “far-right fundamentalists” at Ivors 2025

U2‘s Bono has spoken out against Hamas, Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli “far-right fundamentalists” at the 2025 Ivor Novello Awards – see what he had to say below.

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Yesterday (May 22), U2 became the first Irish act to receive Fellowship Of The Ivors Academy, the highest honour that the organisation bestows. The ceremony took place at the Grosvenor House in London and celebrated its 70th year, where it saw 22 songwriters and composers collecting awards over 14 categories, with over 70 per cent of winners being first-timers.

At the ceremony, U2 took to the Ivors stage to accept the honour, with all four members deliver speeches of their own. The last man on the podium was frontman Bono, who used his time to call for peace in the Gaza-Israel conflict. Bono said: “I used to introduce this next song by saying it was not a rebel song. It was because believing in the possibilities of peace was then, and is now, a rebellious act; and some would say a ridiculous one.”

“To believe peace was attainable between your country and ours, between our country and itself was a ridiculous idea because peace creates possibilities in the most intractable situations and lord knows there’s a few of them out there right now,” he said, before adding: “Hamas, release the hostages, stop the war. Israel, be released from Benjamin Netanyahu and the far-right fundamentalists that twist your sacred texts.”

“All of you, protect our aid workers – they are the best of us. God, you must be so tired of us, children of Abraham, in the rubble of our certainties. Children in the rubble of our revenge. God forgive us.”

Following the speech, U2 performed an acoustic rendition of ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’, their iconic 1983 track about the 1972 massacre in which the British army shot at unarmed protestors, killing 14 people – the highest number of people killed in a shooting during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Besides expressing themes of loss and suffering through war and violence, the song is also a beacon of hope as U2 sing of the importance of unity and peace.

After the tragic and infamous October 2023 attack at the Israeli music festival Supernova that brought the Gaza-Israel war to mainstream attention, Bono paid tribute to the victims while performing with U2 in Las Vegas. Bono dedicated his hit 2003 song ‘Pride (In the Name of Love)’ to the victims, and shared his hopes for a non-violent solution to the conflict.

Bono’s altering of the lyrics to honour the victims sparked particular backlash from Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters, who described Bono as “disgusting” and “a shit” for having a history of “sticking up for the Zionist entity”.

Earlier this year, Bono shared his thoughts on what is the best way to achieve freedom “in every part of the world where health and humanity are at risk” in op-ed for The Atlantic, which he wrote ahead of receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom in the US.

He has yet to publicly through his support behind Israel or Palestine. Due to his approach, Bono has been branded a “master” of striking balanced opinions by Sharon Osbourne, who earlier this month suggested that Kneecap follow in U2’s footsteps after Kneecap called for Palestine’s freedom at Coachella in April and later became the subject of attention from counter-terror police in the UK.

Osbourne said: “They should follow the masters, who are U2. Bono goes on, he talks about Palestine. He does it in peace. He’s pro-Palestine, that’s his opinion Bono, god bless him, but he does it in such a way that it doesn’t incite violence from a crowd.”

Earlier this month, Bono updated fans on U2’s upcoming as-yet-titled studio album, confirming that the band has been recording, “and it sounds like future to me. We had to go through some stuff, and we’re at the other end of it.”

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