Does Mark Knopfler Support Israel?

Shelly Zimmerman Feb 27, 2025 3 min read

Short answer: As of July 2026, Mark Knopfler has no public political stance on Israel. The clearest facts are that he has Jewish paternal heritage (his father was a Hungarian Jewish refugee) and that Dire Straits, the band he led, played Jerusalem in 1985. He has never made a pro-Israel statement, but he has also never joined any anti-Israel boycott, signed the 2023 Musicians for Palestine letter, or joined the 2025 "No Music for Genocide" campaign. The record is one of silence, not hostility.

What Mark Knopfler has actually said and done

1939: Knopfler's father, Erwin Knopfler, a Hungarian Jewish architect from Miskolc, flees Hungary to escape the Nazis and later settles in Britain. This is the root of Knopfler's Jewish heritage on his father's side, per Wikipedia.
August 12, 1949: Mark Knopfler is born in Glasgow to a Hungarian Jewish father (Erwin, whom he later described as a Marxist agnostic) and an English mother. He was not raised in an observant Jewish home, per Wikipedia and Encyclopedia.com.
April 30, 1985: Dire Straits, led by Knopfler, perform at Sultan's Pool in Jerusalem during the Brothers in Arms world tour. This is the one firmly documented appearance by his band in Israel, per the concert archive setlist.fm.
November 16, 2023: More than 4,000 musicians sign the Musicians for Palestine open letter demanding a Gaza ceasefire. Mark Knopfler is not among the named signatories, per Euronews.
January 31, 2024: Christie's holds a record-breaking auction of Knopfler's guitars and amps, raising roughly 8.8 million pounds, with a share going to charity (British Red Cross, Tusk, Brave Hearts of the North East, Teenage Cancer Trust). None of the beneficiaries were Israel-related, and none were anti-Israel: the auction was apolitical, per RTE.
September 18, 2025: The "No Music for Genocide" campaign launches with more than 400 artists, a total that grew past 1,000 (Lorde, Bjork, Massive Attack and others) within the first month, geo-blocking their music in Israel. Mark Knopfler is not among the participants, per The FADER and Wikipedia.

Jewish roots, and a common mix-up

The Jewish connection here is real, but it is personal, not political. Knopfler's father Erwin was a Hungarian Jew from Miskolc who fled the Nazis in 1939, and Mark has described him as a Marxist agnostic. Mark himself was not raised as a practicing Jew, so the heritage sits on his father's side, and it has never translated into public advocacy in either direction. On Israel specifically, the strongest tie is musical: Dire Straits played Sultan's Pool in Jerusalem on April 30, 1985, during the Brothers in Arms tour. One point is worth clearing up, because it causes real confusion. The Dire Straits Experience, a tribute band founded by former Dire Straits saxophonist Chris White, has toured Israel many times and sold more than 25,000 tickets there (as reported by the Jerusalem Post and Ynetnews), but Mark Knopfler is not a member of that band and does not perform with it. Fans even maintain a "Mark Knopfler Please come to Israel" Facebook page, which underlines that he has not returned to Israel as a solo artist. Across the major cultural-boycott flashpoints (BDS, the 2023 Musicians for Palestine letter, and the 2025 No Music for Genocide campaign), his name does not appear.

The bottom line

Mark Knopfler is neither a public friend nor a public critic of Israel. He has Jewish family roots and his band played Jerusalem in 1985, but he has never voiced a political position on Israel and has never joined any boycott of it. The most accurate description is a musician who once played Israel and has stayed out of the boycott movements, not an active supporter. We are not going to overstate that silence as an endorsement.

Wear your own answer

You do not need a rock star's permission to show where you stand. While artists like Knopfler keep their distance, plenty of people would rather make their own support visible and unmistakable. Our Support Israel collection is built for exactly that, from flags to everyday pieces you can wear out the door, and something as simple as an I Stand With Israel bracelet says clearly what a lot of public figures never will. When the famous stay quiet, your own choice can speak.

Last updated July 2026. We update these profiles as the record changes.