Short answer: As of July 2026, Lorde does not support Israel. She canceled a planned Tel Aviv concert in December 2017 under BDS pressure, and in 2025 escalated to shouting "Free Palestine" onstage at Madison Square Garden and formally joining the "No Music for Genocide" campaign, which geo-blocks her entire music catalog from streaming in Israel.
What Lorde has actually said and done
- 2017 (planning stage): A Tel Aviv concert appeared on Lorde's tour calendar, with some outlets listing a June 2018 date on the original itinerary, according to Wikipedia and a report from the Times of Israel. The show was never held.
- December 24, 2017: Lorde announced she was canceling the Tel Aviv date. In a statement reported by the Times of Israel, she wrote that after "a lot of reading" and "an overwhelming number of messages and letters," she wasn't "too proud to admit I didn't make the right call" in booking the show, and that "the right decision at this time is to cancel."
- December 25, 2017: The cancellation followed an open letter from two New Zealand BDS activists, Nadia Abu-Shanab and Justine Sachs. CBS News reported that the pro-BDS group Jewish Voices for Peace celebrated the move as a "BDS win," while Salon noted the decision drew criticism as well, including from Israel's ambassador to New Zealand, who requested a meeting with her.
- October 1, 2025: At a Madison Square Garden stop on her Ultrasound World Tour, Lorde interrupted a performance of "Team" to shout "Free f***ing Palestine" as the stage lighting shifted to the colors of the Palestinian flag, according to the New Zealand Herald and Stuff.
- Early October 2025: Lorde formally joined "No Music for Genocide," a boycott of more than 1,000 artists and labels, including Bjork and Paul Weller, that geo-blocks participating artists' music from streaming services inside Israel. NME and the Jewish Chronicle both reported that her catalog was subsequently blocked on Apple Music and other services inside Israel.
Is Lorde Jewish? What the search interest is really about
There is no public record that Lorde is Jewish or has Jewish ancestry. Her full name is Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor. Per Wikipedia, her mother, poet Sonja Yelich, is of Croatian descent, the daughter of Croatian immigrants from Dalmatia, with a maternal grandfather born in Vukovar. Her father, Vic O'Connor, is of Irish descent. Her documented family background across both sides is Croatian, Irish, English, Scottish and German, with no religious affiliation specified in her biography.
The search interest in "is Lorde Jewish" most likely traces back to the amount of Jewish and pro-Israel press coverage her 2017 cancellation and 2025 actions generated, with outlets like the Jewish Chronicle, the Jerusalem Post, Australian Jewish News and the Jewish Journal all covering her decisions critically, rather than to any actual connection between Lorde and Jewish identity.
It's also worth noting how this fits into the wider entertainment landscape: artist positions on Israel have hardened rather than softened since October 7, 2023, and boycotts like "No Music for Genocide" show that trend moving from individual gestures (a single canceled show) toward organized, industry-wide campaigns that affect what Israeli fans can even access. Lorde's trajectory from 2017 to 2025 is a clear example of that shift.
The bottom line
Lorde does not support Israel. Her position, first shown by the December 2017 Tel Aviv concert cancellation under BDS pressure, escalated by October 2025 into a public pro-Palestinian statement at Madison Square Garden and formal participation in a boycott that blocks her music from streaming in Israel. This was not a one-time decision she later walked back; it hardened over eight years. She is not Jewish, and her documented family background is Croatian and Irish.
Support Israel directly
You don't need a pop star's catalog to show where you stand. Shop Israel's Support Israel collection carries pieces like the I Stand With Israel t-shirt for anyone who wants their support to be visible, worn every day, and impossible to boycott.
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Last updated July 2026. We update these profiles as the record changes.
