LONDON, August 28, 2008 (AFP) - Music legend Paul McCartney is to stage his first ever concert in Israel next month, four decades after the Beatles were barred from playing there, he said on his website Thursday.

The former Beatles star will play a 'Friendship First' concert in Tel Aviv on September 25, as part of a series of one-off gigs in places he has never visited before.

'I?ve heard so many great things about Tel Aviv and Israel, but hearing is one thing and experiencing it for yourself is another. We are planning to have a great time and a great evening,' he said.

'We can?t wait to get out there and rock.'

The Beatles drew up plans to play in Israel at the height of Beatlemania in 1965, but they were cancelled after sponsors failed to raise enough money, and lawmakers voiced concern that they might corrupt young Israeli minds.

McCartney also nearly performed in Israel in the late 1970s, when concerts with his post-Beatles band Wings were cancelled due to problems with the venues, he said.

In January Israel apologized in letters to the two surviving members of the Beatles -- McCartney and drummer Ringo Starr -- and asked them to play at the nation's 60th birthday bash in May.

'Unfortunately the state of Israel cancelled your performance in the country due to lack of budget and because several politicians in the Knesset had believed at the time that your performance might corrupt the minds of the Israeli youth,' said letters to the ex-Beatles cited by the Israeli press.

McCartney noted Thursday that Israel?s ambassador to London Ron Prosor had told him it was 'a great missed opportunity to prevent people like you, who shaped the minds of the generation, to come to Israel and perform.'

The British musician has played a number of one-off concerts this year, including the 'Independence Concert' in Ukraine in June and in Quebec in July. The Tel Aviv concert will be staged in the city's Hayarkon Park.