Steven Patrick Morrissey, who is more popularly known by his stage name Morrissey. Photo: BANG Showbiz

British singer Morrissey had only kind words to say about Israel and being in the Jewish state for his performance on Sunday night in the northern Israeli town of Binyamina, the first of two concerts that he held this week in Israel.

“I’m very happy to be here in God’s country, the heart of the world. Thank you for coming,” the former frontman for The Smiths, 64, told the thousands of audience members that gathered at the Zappa Amphitheater Shuni. “Binyamina, Binyamina, bring me home, take me in your arms … ” added the musician, whose full name is Steven Patrick Morrissey. He also said he was  “thrilled” to be in Israel.

Sunday night’s sold-out show featured Morrissey’s new song Notre Dame as well as the fan favorites Irish Blood, English Heart; I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris; Everyday Is Like Sunday; and many more. He also performed hit songs from The Smiths like Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One; Half a Person; and Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want.

Morrissey performed his second concert in Tel Aviv on Tuesday. During that show he wore a blue shirt that featured in Hebrew the word “Goldstar,” which is an Israeli brand of beer, and the insignia of the Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer club, whose new head coach is related to the British singer-songwriter.

Morrissey has been vocal in the past about his support for Israel, has appeared on stage in Tel Aviv draped in an Israeli flag, and called the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS) movement against Israel “absurd and narrow-minded” in an interview with the German newspaper Der Spiegel. He was given the key to Tel Aviv in 2012.

The musician previously performed in Tel Aviv in 2008, ignoring demands from supporters of the BDS movement to cancel his concert, and his 2017 album Low in High School even featured Israel and Jewish-themed songs. The Girl From Tel Aviv Who Wouldn’t Kneel pays homage to Etty Hillesum, a Jewish Dutch author and diarist who was murdered in the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1943, and the track titled Israel includes lyrics that accuse people who “rain abuse” on Israel of being “jealous” of the country.