Channel 2’s Amit Segal posted a selfie with Roger Waters: ‘Maybe I’ll tell him the wine is from the settlements.” Photo: Screenshot

Israeli Channel 2 news correspondent Amit Segal stirred audiences on Facebook on Sunday with a selfie of himself posing with Roger Waters, the former Pink Floyd bassist turned Israel boycott activist, at a Haaretz conference in New York.

“Roger Waters is standing ahead of me in line for the buffet at the Haaretz conference. I’m deciding whether to tell him that the wine is made in the settlements so he’ll go and free up some space,” wrote Segal.

The post rapidly became one of Segal’s most viral, garnering more than 13,600 likes in under 24 hours.

Judging by the top responses, many Israelis had mixed feelings about  Segal’s encounter with Waters.

“Tell him that he’s a gifted artist and a s***, sad, and bitter human being who only knows how to boycott Israel, give him a good fist and then get his signature,” wrote one follower.

Another said Waters’ presence at the conference, jointly sponsored by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz and the US-based NGO the New Israel Fund, speaks volumes about the other attendees: “Show me your friends and I’ll show you who you are. If Roger Waters comes it’s a telltale sign that there were just a few people at the conference who could call themselves ‘friends of Zion.'”

Yet another chided Segal: “With all due respect, if you take a picture with him, you give him more legitimacy. Shame.”

Some big-name artists scheduled to appear in Israel over the years have canceled their shows at the last minute, including Elvis Costello, the Pixies, Carlos Santana, Neil Young and Lauren Hill, among others. Sometimes it has been due to political concerns, while at other times, cancellations have been made for security reasons.

Haaretz featured Waters in an extensive interview on his views about Israel earlier this year.