Defiant David D’or declares he is ‘proud to be Israeli’ after being doused with red paint at Jewish festival

Afterwards, D'or said: “It was very sad. This was a performance at a wonderful Jewish festival, and I was on stage with the Philharmonic Orchestra.

"I closed my eyes and prayed, and suddenly, in the middle of Avinu Malkeinu, when I told the audience, ‘Let’s pray together for world peace and better days ahead', I felt a cold rush across my face... I opened my eyes and saw red everywhere."

D'or said it looked as if his song list was "stained with blood". "It threw me into harsh visions, even though I knew it wasn’t real blood. It reminded me of what happened on October 7."

Pro-Palestine activists have regularly used red paint against Israeli-linked targets to represent the blood of civilians killed in Gaza.

I am proud to be Jewish”

The attack caused some unrest among the crowd, with D'or and the orchestra attempting to keep everybody calm.

He said: “The audience was clearly frightened. I tried to calm them, asking everyone to sing and pray together.

"Fortunately, my pianist, Ya’ad, played a protective melody while I sang, and we embraced the situation."

After returning to Israel, D'or told Israeli National News: “I want to say a big thank you to all the amazing people who sent me comments and supported me.

"As soon as we arrived in Israel, people cheered and chased us with lots of love. There is nothing better than our people in the world. There is nothing better than you, I love you.”

And he vowed to continue touring despite the attack: "I will continue to go wherever I am invited. I am proud to be Israeli. I am proud to be Jewish.

"I am proud to try to connect different religions and different ages and different opinions through this wonderful tool called music."