If he did have a spine, he'd still be without tour venues, but at least he'd have the support of the public and artists. Now he's have a venue, but no show AND he lost major pubic support. He'll always been know as Kraft's little bitch now.

Governments (especially authoritarian ones) like to perpetuate that way of thinking. A government that doesn't speak for the citizenry is illegitimate. To avoid the appearance (even if it's a thin veil) of being despotic tyrants and/or bought and paid for by private interests (but I repeat myself), they perpetuate the notion that the people agree with the government, even to the point of being synonymous with the people. And the media goes along with it. They don't speak of the government as a distinct entity from the borders or citizenry of the country. They don't say "the government of the U.S.A. bombed Iran", they say "the U.S. bombed Iran". They don't say "the Israeli government expanded their borders and genocided more Palestinian people", they say "Isreal annexed disputed land". It's just part of how the propaganda machine works. In fact, it's an integral part of how the propaganda machine works.

Israel has a few factors that intensify this particular effect. Their government playing into it constantly is certainly part of it. Also, Jewish people made up notable minorities in many countries, but majorities in zero, between about 586 BCE and 1948 CE. The insular nature of those minority communities made them an easy scapegoat for a lot of groups for those ~2500 years, so a lot of cultural significance was put into the perceived need to be a majority somewhere. Unfortunately, a lot of people don't want to get rid of the boot, they just want to be the ones wearing it.

Conservatives and authoritarians are simple minded.