Goodbye, Hello: McCartney to rock Israel 43 years after ban

Sir Paul McCartney has been asked to play a concert in Israel, 43 years after the Beatles were banned from performing in the country.

The star was approached about staging a Tel Aviv gig this September, a source close to the deal confirmed last night. The revelation was greeted with excitement in the Israeli press. Sir Paul's spokesman said that "nothing is confirmed", but negotiations were continuing.

McCartney, 66, and his fellow Beatles were banned from performing in Israel in 1965 when the country's then education minister, David Zarzevski, thought that a show by the band would threaten the morals of the nation's youth.

But this year, Israel's ambassador to Britain, Ron Prosor, apologised during a trip to the Fab Four's home city of Liverpool for the "misunderstanding".

He sent letters to McCartney, his fellow surviving Beatle Ringo Starr and the families of John Lennon and George Harrison, writing: "There is no doubt that it was a great missed opportunity to prevent people like you, who shaped the minds of the generation, to come to Israel and perform."