Israel’s participation in Eurovision is increasingly unlikely.
The Israeli broadcasting company Kan threatens to withdraw from the Eurovision Song Contest if it is asked for its representative song October Rain changing.
Kan presented his threat today, Sunday, to EBU, the European Broadcasting Union.
Even so far, October Rain has not passed Ebu’s screen because its lyrics are said to be political. Political lyrics are prohibited in the rules of the fair.
Kan says he’s negotiating with Ebu, but it’s not going to back down.
Eden Golan is supposed to represent Israel in the spring Eurovision. Wikimedia
The deadline for changing the song is March 11.
October Rain is played by an Israeli-Russian Eden Golan. The lyrics are partly in English, partly in Hebrew and are said to refer to the terrorist attacks by the Palestinian extremist organization Hamas on October 7.
Both the president of Israel and the country’s minister of culture and sports have taken a stand on the matter.
– I ask the European Broadcasting Union to behave professionally and neutrally and not to let politics affect art, Minister Mickey Zohar said.
President Isaac Herzog said that Israel’s participation in visas is important and that he is trying to help in this matter.
Israel has been demanded to withdraw from Eurovision because of the situation in Palestine. Eurovision will be held in May in Malmö.
Source: AFP