Shalev’s tweet was met with nearly a dozen responses, nearly all of them negative, for posing and validating such a dedicated Israel opponent who wages economic warfare against Israel. Many of those tweets can be found on the twitter feed of JCCWatch.org.
Enough people prodded Shalev that he finally tweeted a retort: “Dear haters who have decided that I am a Nazi/Kapo/anti-Semite for pic with R. Waters: Thanks for comments: they say more about you than me.”
The critics were not convinced, either that Shalev was justified in making nice to someone like Waters or that Waters, given his BDS stance, should have been present.
One theory was that Waters hoped to peddle his presence at the conference as cover to defeat charges of anti-Semitism at the upcoming Grammy awards; Waters has garnered several nominations.