Bon Jovi Tells Israeli Audience This Should Be the 'Fight Song for Tel Aviv

At his Tel Aviv concert Saturday night, Jon Bon Jovi played his new song “We Don’t Run,” and had a special message for his audience.

“This should be the fight song for Tel Aviv,” Israeli media and concert attendees reported Bon Jovi said.

Israel has been facing a wave of terrorist attacks during this holiday week of Sukkot. It’s unclear if the rock star knew that shortly before the concert began, two Israeli men were stabbed to death and a toddler was wounded by a Palestinian attacker in Jerusalem.

Saturday night’s attack followed the roadside ambush of an Israeli family driving in the West Bank Thursday night, when Palestinian gunmen shot to death Eitam and Na’ama Henkin in front of four of their young children.

Bon Jovi dedicates song ‘We Don’t Run’ to Israel. Show started minutes after J'lem terror attack https://t.co/b6BNfME3a2 via @timesofisrael

— David Horovitz (@davidhorovitz) October 3, 2015

Whether or not he knew about the latest attacks, the lyrics felt significant to those at the concert, especially these lines:

We don't run

I'm standing my ground

We don't run

And we don't back down

Here's an excerpt from the concert:

Some felt empowered by the message:

Bon Jovi introduces song "We Don't Run" as what "should be the fight song for Tel Aviv." I say, for all of Israel. We don't back down!

— Lahav Harkov (@LahavHarkov)

October 3, 2015

Bon Jovi told the Tel Aviv crowd that he had “waited a long time” to come to Israel.

“We finally made it here. It took us a long time, and we still have a ways to go tonight,” he said.

The musician told the Israeli press after landing Friday at Ben-Gurion Airport outside Tel Aviv that he had always wanted to visit and had “always heard what a wonderful place Israel is – the birthplace of all religions.”

I love that Jon @BonJovi wore his cross prominently for #TelAviv #BonJoviLive Christianity welcome here. pic.twitter.com/kcYqqBrTZc

— Brian of London (@brianoflondon) October 3, 2015

“I have been everywhere and Israel was a place that I’ve always wanted to visit, but it never worked out. This time I insisted that Israel must be on our list, and it happened,” he said.

Featured image: Bon Jovi performing last month in Jakarta, Indonesia. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)