We can now confirm: Israel was not ready for Britney Spears, and Britney Spears was not ready for Israel. First, upon Spears’s announcement that she’d be performing in Tel Aviv in July as part of her Live in Concert tour, the Israeli Labor Party decided to postpone its leadership vote, in part out of “consideration for the party faithful who want to vote in the primary and then watch Britney do her thing,†according to a Haaretz source. (Seriously.) Then, upon her arrival at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, which is primarily accessible by foot, Spears became the center of “chaos†as a “veritable mob scene†quickly formed around her; she was swarmed by photographers and adoring fans — not to mention her “substantial security detail†— who were literally jumping on her and not giving her any chance to escape. Sources close to Spears called the entire ordeal “a huge mess.â€
It was so bad, in fact, that Spears then decided to skip an anticipated — though, her team stressed, never “confirmed†— meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “Hundreds of people jumped on her,†sources explained to Ynet News, “and she decided to cancel it all.†Now Spears’s team is also reportedly “furious†at Netanyahu’s people for implying that their meeting had originally been a done deal. Let’s keep things in perspective here: It’s Britney, sure, but this is a lot of commotion for a country to go through for one Monday-night performance. As a wise singer once asked, “Now, are you sure you want a piece of me?â€