Bob Vylan’s Chant Against Israel’s Military at Glastonbury Draws Criminal Inquiry

The band Bob Vylan led a chant of “Death, death to the I.D.F.” at Britain’s biggest music festival. A senior State Department official said the band’s U.S. visas had been revoked.

The British punk duo Bob Vylan was under criminal investigation and the target of international political outrage on Monday after its lead singer led the crowd at Britain’s largest musical festival in chants of “Death, death to the I.D.F.,” referring to the Israel Defense Forces.

In a sign of a growing crisis enveloping the band, the deputy secretary of state, Christopher Landau, said on X that the State Department had revoked its U.S. visas. He made the announcement shortly after the Avon and Somerset police said they had opened an investigation based on a review of audio and video recordings of the band’s performance at the Glastonbury Festival in England on Saturday.

Bob Vylan, who played shows in the United States last month, was scheduled to return to play several dates in the fall, starting in Spokane, Wash., on Oct. 24 and wrapping up in Los Angeles on Nov. 19. As of Monday, the dates remained on the band’s website.

“Foreigners who glorify violence and hatred are not welcome visitors to our country,” Mr. Landau said on X.

Representatives for United Talent Agency, the band’s booking agent, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday. The Hollywood Reporter reported that the agency had ended its relationship with the punk duo, who are known for fast-paced political songs touching on issues including racism, poverty and toxic masculinity.

The announcement of the police investigation came a day after Prime Minister Kier Starmer of Britain and the organizers of the Glastonbury Festival had said they were appalled by the chants by the band’s lead singer, Bobby Vylan.

Glastonbury, Britain’s biggest music festival, had already been facing criticism for its decision to allow Kneecap, a Northern Irish rap group, to perform on Saturday, despite pressure from broadcasters and politicians to cut the act after the band voiced anti-Israel statements and one member faced a terrorism charge.

Kneecap’s performance was such a draw at the festival that the arena was already full for Bob Vylan’s set an hour beforehand.

The chants by Bobby Vylan, which were broadcast live on the BBC, drew immediate condemnation from politicians in the United Kingdom.

“There is no excuse for this kind of appalling hate speech,” Mr. Starmer said in his statement on Sunday. “I said that Kneecap should not be given a platform and that goes for any other performers making threats or inciting violence.”

Mr. Starmer added, “The BBC needs to explain how these scenes came to be broadcast.”

The BBC said in a statement on Monday that it should have cut away from live coverage of Bob Vylan’s performance. “The team were dealing with a live situation but with hindsight we should have pulled the stream,” the statement said. “We regret this did not happen.”

Israel’s embassy in London, as well as some Jewish groups, accused Glastonbury of promoting hate. The Avon and Somerset police said they were investigating the matter as a “public order incident.”

“We have received a large amount of contact in relation to these events from people across the world and recognize the strength of public feeling,” the police said in a statement. “There is absolutely no place in society for hate.”

Glastonbury said in a statement on Instagram that “with almost 4,000 performances at Glastonbury 2025, there will inevitably be artists and speakers appearing on our stages whose views we do not share, and a performer’s presence here should never be seen as a tacit endorsement of their opinions and beliefs.”

“However,” the statement continued, “we are appalled by the statements made from the West Holts stage by Bob Vylan yesterday.”

“Their chants very much crossed a line,” the statement added, “and we are urgently reminding everyone involved in the production of the Festival that there is no place at Glastonbury for antisemitism, hate speech or incitement to violence.”

The members of Bob Vylan could not be reached for comment.

On Instagram on Saturday night, the band’s lead singer, Bobby Vylan, posted a selfie with a cup of ice cream, captioned: “While zionists are crying on socials, I’ve just had late night (vegan) ice cream.”

Late Sunday, the singer posted a second message on Instagram saying he had been “inundated with messages of both support and hatred” since the show.

And on Monday, the singer Jordan Benjamin, who performs as Grandson, posted a statement on Instagram defending Bob Vylan, which is scheduled to open shows for Mr. Benjamin in the United States this fall.

“As a Jewish artist,” he wrote, “I am deeply offended by the conflation of criticism against a military force known for their indiscriminate violence with antisemitism. The Israeli government has done more to exacerbate antisemitism this past 2 years than any statements by artists advocating for Palestinian freedom and solidarity.”

Not all British lawyers saw the police as having a strong case against the band. Jolyon Maugham, a founder of the Good Law Project, who has posted on social media about the furor around Bob Vylan’s concert, said in a telephone interview that the band’s singer directed his comments at the Israeli army, rather than the Jewish people. Some may have been offended, he added, but the statements were “a very different thing” to a crime.

In April, Kneecap — whose Glastonbury performance was also the subject of the Avon and Somerset police investigation — lost its U.S. visa sponsor after making anti-Israel statements at Coachella.

The next month, the police in Britain charged Mo Chara, one of the band’s rappers, with a terrorism offense for displaying the flag of Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia, onstage at a London show last November.

Several festivals and venues dropped the band from their lineups.

The BBC had said previously that it would cut off its traditional Glastonbury livestreaming for Kneecap’s performance on Saturday. But it did broadcast Bob Vylan’s performance live. During the show, dozens in the crowd waved Palestinian flags.

“You know this is live on the BBC so we have to be careful what we say,” Mr. Vylan said during the set on Saturday.

He went on to chant several pro-Palestinian messages and voiced support for “our mates Kneecap.” He led the crowd in a chant of “Free, free Palestine!” before pivoting into a separate phrase.

“Aye, but have you heard this one though,” the singer said. “Death, death to the I.D.F.!”

Comments in support of Palestinians are common from Glastonbury stages, as are statements decrying what musicians say is the Israeli government’s “genocide” in Gaza, but such a specific chant against the Israeli military was unusual and fewer fans joined in with the chant than with other declarations opposing Israel’s war in Gaza.

“I think the BBC and Glastonbury have got questions to be answered about how we saw such a spectacle on our screens,” Wes Streeting, Britain’s health secretary, told Sky News on Sunday.

He called the comments a “shameless publicity stunt.”

Michael Levenson contributed reporting.

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