Short answer: No. As of August 2026, Roger Waters, co-founder and former bassist and vocalist of Pink Floyd, does not support Israel. He is one of the most prominent celebrity supporters of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, has repeatedly compared Israel's government to Nazi Germany and accused it of apartheid, cast public doubt on Hamas's October 7, 2023 atrocities, and lost his music publishing deal with BMG in 2024 over comments about Israel.
What Roger Waters has actually said and done
- June 22, 2006: Waters performed a concert in Israel but relocated the show out of Tel Aviv to Neve Shalom, a joint Jewish-Arab village, after a visit to the West Bank affected him. He has described it as his last performance in the country and has refused to perform in Israel since, according to Ynet Far Out Magazine.
- August 2013: Waters published an open letter calling on fellow musicians to boycott Israel, formally becoming an outspoken BDS supporter, as reported by Rolling Stone.
- May 2023: At a Berlin concert, Waters appeared on stage in a costume resembling an SS Nazi uniform while a large inflatable pig bearing symbols evoking the Third Reich floated over the crowd, drawing widespread condemnation. A later documentary reported he had wanted an antisemitic slur written on the pig, according to Billboard and the Times of Israel.
- June 6, 2023: The U.S. State Department publicly accused Waters of Holocaust distortion and of having "a long track record of using antisemitic tropes," responding directly to the Berlin imagery, per the Times of Israel.
- November 2023: In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, Waters told interviewers "we don't know what happened" and suggested the death toll and atrocity accounts were exaggerated or fabricated by Israel, while arguing Palestinian "resistance to occupation" was legally and morally justified, according to the Times of Israel.
- January 31, 2024: Music publisher BMG announced it was severing its 2016 publishing deal with Waters over his comments on Israel, Ukraine, and the United States. Waters said he had been "fired" due to pro-Israel pressure, which BMG disputed, saying its new CEO made the call independently, per Variety and CelebrityAccess.
- July 2, 2024: In an interview with Piers Morgan, Waters said there was "no evidence whatsoever" of sexual violence by Hamas during the October 7 attack, credited "alternative news outlets" with "debunking" Israeli accounts, and rejected the word "terrorism" for the assault, calling it "resistance." He also denied being antisemitic "even very faintly," according to the Times of Israel.
The bigger picture
Roger Waters is the co-founder, principal songwriter, and original bassist and vocalist of Pink Floyd. He left the band in 1985 and has been estranged from most former bandmates, though he remains on good terms with drummer Nick Mason. He is a British citizen, not Jewish, with no personal Jewish-identity connection; his stated position is that his activism is anti-Zionist and pro-Palestinian rather than motivated by any personal grievance tied to Israel. His rhetoric, particularly the Nazi-imagery stage shows, comparisons of Israel to Nazi Germany, and his minimizing of Hamas's October 7 attack, has repeatedly drawn accusations of antisemitism from the U.S. State Department and mainstream Jewish organizations. As of August 2026, Waters is not touring and has made no public statement walking back his position.
The bottom line
Roger Waters does not support Israel. He is a longtime, high-profile BDS advocate whose rhetoric, from Nazi-imagery stage shows to doubt cast on Hamas's October 7 atrocities, has drawn formal condemnation from the U.S. State Department and cost him a major publishing partnership. There is no documented instance of him supporting Israel, donating to Israeli causes, or walking back his BDS position through August 2026.
Where do you stand?
Whatever any one celebrity says, plenty of people are proud to say it plainly: they stand with Israel. If that is you, our I Stand With Israel collection is a simple, wearable way to show it, whether that is the I Stand With Israel bracelet or a piece from the wider line.
Related
Does Roger Waters Support Israel? is one profile in an ongoing series. See also: Does Noam Chomsky Support Israel?, Does Louis Farrakhan Support Israel?, and Does Linda Sarsour Support Israel?
Last updated August 2026. We update these profiles as the record changes.
