Lana Del Rey has pulled out of a music festival in Israel next week in the wake of a backlash over her decision to perform.

The American singer was to have been one of the headline performers at the Meteor festival from 6 to 8 September. It is being held on a kibbutz in northern Israel that most Palestinians would not be permitted to attend.

In a tweet on Friday, Del Rey said she wanted to play for both Palestinian and Israeli fans, but it had not been possible to “line up both visits with such short notice”.

She had therefore decided to postpone her appearance at the festival until it was possible to “schedule visits for both my Israeli and Palestinian fans, as well as hopefully other countries in the region”.

The decision marks an abrupt reversal from her stance early last week when the singer tweeted: “I believe music is universal and should be used to bring us together … Performing in Tel Aviv is not a political statement or a commitment to the politics there, just like singing here in California doesn’t mean my views are in alignment w[ith] my current government’s opinions or sometimes inhuman actions.

“I’m doing my best to navigate the waters of the constant tumultuous hardships in the war-torn countries all over the world that I travel through monthly.”

Del Rey had come under pressure from the Palestine Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel to change her decision: “We doubt that you would have played in apartheid South Africa; likewise, artists refuse to play in apartheid Israel.”

The pressure group welcomed her decision to withdraw in a tweet on Friday night:

Thank you @LanaDelRey for your principled decision to withdraw from Israel's Meteor Festival.



Palestinians hope to hear you play when Israel's occupation and apartheid end.



We urge all participating artists in the festival to respect our nonviolent picket line. https://t.co/8T4iMunqhd — PACBI (@PACBI) August 31, 2018



A petition launched jointly by Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel and Jewish Voice for Peace had gathered nearly 15,000 signatures, and the campaign also spawned the Twitter hashtag #LanaDontGo.

Del Rey joins the likes of Lorde in deciding not to perform in Israel in protest over its government’s treatment of Palestinians and its military action in Palestine.



However, last November Nick Cave said he was making “a principled stand against anyone who tries to censor and silence musicians” and complained of “a sort of public humiliation from Roger Waters and co” for those who do choose to play in Israel.

Radiohead went ahead with a concert in Tel Aviv in July 2017, with Thom Yorke arguing that “playing in a country isn’t the same as endorsing its government … We don’t endorse Netanyahu any more than Trump, but we still play in America.”