Barenboim has often criticized the illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land. In 2001 he made many people in Israel angry by conducting the music of Wagner in a concert. Wagner’s music had not been performed in Israel since 1938 because Wagner had been accused of being anti-Jewish and because he had been Hitler's favourite composer. However, Hitler and Wagner had not personally known each other, as the composer died in 1883 and Hitler was born in 1889.