Israeli delegation heads to meeting on Eurovision to push back on disqualification attempt

Representatives of Israel’s Kan public broadcaster are heading to Geneva for tomorrow’s European Broadcasting Union general assembly, where they are set to oppose calls to exclude Israel from the Eurovision song contest.

Golan Yochpaz, the director general of Kan, and Ayala Mizrachi, a Kan attorney who is its representative in the EBU, are representing the Israeli broadcaster at the two-day meeting, where member countries are set to discuss whether Israel should be allowed to continue to participate in the annual contest.

In a statement, Kan says that the pair will “present Kan’s position regarding attempts to disqualify Israel from the competition.”

A number of countries, including Ireland, Spain, Slovenia and the Netherlands, have led the call to oust Israel from the competition, citing its conduct during the war in Gaza. Several countries have vowed that they will pull out of the contest if Israel is allowed to compete.

Host Austria has expressed strong support for Israel remaining in the contest, as has Germany, with a broadcasting industry source telling Reuters that Berlin could even withdraw if Israel is kicked out.

The EBU last month unveiled a series of changes to voting and transparency ahead of next year’s Eurovision, and has said it hopes that the reforms will be enough to assuage concerns.

In addition, Kan reveals new regulations for its song selection process, after a number of Israeli artists expressed ire that songwriter Keren Peles wrote both the 2024 and 2025 Israeli Eurovision songs. Under the new rules, no composer whose song was selected for two consecutive years can submit a song the following year.

In addition, composers cannot submit demos recorded in their own voices, but only by an unrelated singer or using AI-generated vocals.