In the midst of show cancellations by other artists, boycotts from Israeli conservatives, and political rallies, Elton John safely arrived in Tel Aviv and successfully held a one-night concert in the city on Thursday night.

To quote local station Channel One, John was the “single righteous artist in a sea of boycotters”.

Several other artists have cancelled their scheduled performances in the city including UK acts Elvis Costello, Klaxons and Gorillaz, which is a side project by Blur front man Damon Albarn. The Pixies and legendary guitarist Carlos Santana have also canceled their gigs in Israel due to increased tension between Israelis and Palestinians and also because of the recent naval raid.

The naval raid happened on May 31, where a foreign flotilla was hijacked and killed nine Israeli activists. This caused many foreign music acts who were scheduled to perform within that week to abruptly pull back from their gigs.