Stevie Wonder is facing flack from pro-Palestinian activists after agreeing to headline a fundraiser for "friends" of the Israeli military, just days after Israel's offensive in Gaza.
It was announced this week that the singer is due to perform at this year's Friends of the Israel Defense Forces benefit, which takes place in Los Angeles on Dec. 6.
Grammy-winning producer and composer David Foster will conduct an accompanying orchestra, according to Arutz Sheva.
With tickets listed at $1,000 a head, the event is expected to raise millions of dollars for FIDF (one recent gala in New York raised $26 million, Ynet News reported).
The US-based organization describes its mission as helping to support "educational, social, cultural, and recreational programs and facilities for the young men and women soldiers of Israel who defend the Jewish homeland," as well as fallen soldiers' families.
The proceeds from the LA concert will go to the Negev Wellbeing and Educational Centers, an FIDF project to build sports facilities, a library and synagogues on the IDF's new training campus in the Negev desert.
The event's co-host, billionaire TV and movie producer Haim Saban, described it to Ynet as "our opportunity to thank the soldiers who defend the state."
The soldiers defended it most recently in Operation Pillar of Defense, the week-long offensive in Gaza that killed over 150 Palestinians, more than 100 of them civilians. Six Israelis died, four civilians and two soldiers.
The timing hasn't been lost on activists, who are questioning why Stevie would choose now to befriend the IDF.
More than 3,500 people have signed an online petition asking Wonder not to perform, "as a conscientious American advocate for human rights and dignity."
The petition, hosted by Change.org, compares Israel to South Africa in the time of apartheid, which Wonder himself was arrested for protesting in 1985.
Check out our photo gallery to see other celebrities who can call themselves friends of the Israeli military.