"Sticky And Sweet" in the Land of Milk and Honey

Mad props to Madge!

The 51-year-old singer/exhibitionist/Kabbalist just wrapped up her "Sticky and Sweet" tour in Tel Aviv this past Wednesday, rocking the sandals off of 50,000 concert-goers. This marks the first time in 16 years that Madonna has performed in Israel, the last time being in support of "The Girlie Show World Tour" in 1993.

During the performance, The Material Girl exclaimed that Tel Aviv was "the energy centre of the world!", eliciting hoots and hollers of approval from the crowd (We can only surmise that she was referring to positive audience feedback, as opposed to, say, nuclear energy. God knows Israel has enough problems as it is being labeled the world's third foremost superpower, right after Switzerland and Antarctica.)

"Esther" also took the scenic route through Israel, touring the hotspots and chatting it up with opposition leader Tzipi Livni over dinner.

It has to be said that with all the negative attention Israel- and Tel Aviv especially- has been getting from the artistic community, what with the recent TIFF boycott from the likes of Jane Fonda and David Byrne, it's refreshing to see a performer who still has a soft spot reserved for The Motherland.

Though, we still haven't forgiven ex-hubby Guy Ritchie for dressing Benicio Del Toro up as a Chassid in Snatch...