Backstreet Boys show in Israel canceled over security concerns

A performance by the Backstreet Boys, scheduled to take place Saturday night in Rishon Lezion, was canceled earlier in the day amid concerns over security.

The decision, made between the IDF's Home Front Command and the Rishon Lezion municipality, comes amid the ongoing exchange of fire between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip in an operation the IDF has called Operation Shield and Arrow. 

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The 1990s boy band superstars announced in February they were planning to return to Israel for the third time, on May 13 at Rishon Lezion’s Live Park. The group last performed here in 2018, celebrating their 25th anniversary before a sold-out crowd of 16,000 at the same venue.

The five-member group, made up of AJ McLean, Howie D, Nick Carter, Kevin Richardson, Brian Littrell, has sold over 130 million records worldwide since forming in 1993 and is regarded as one of the world’s best-selling boy bands. They’re best known for hits like  “I Want It That Way,” “As Long As You Love Me” and  “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back).”

The Post’s Noa Amouyal wrote of their 2018 show: “The entire performance seemed plucked out of their Las Vegas residency, where less physical exertion is a necessity to sustain performing several shows a week. They even wore shiny black tuxedo jackets which seemed far more appropriate for a Vegas stage than a Rishon one.”

However, like much of the crowd who came of age with their 90s hits, Amouyal wrote that she succumbed to their charms.

“We may have outgrown the lyrics and their saccharine notions of love, but the Backstreet Boys are part of our childhood and our connection to them runs deep.”