Rebuffing boycott calls, Eurovision organizers say Israel will participate next year

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organizes the annual Eurovision Song Contest, has rebuffed calls from anti-Israel activists to nix Israel’s participation in next year’s competition over the war against the Hamas terror group.

“The Eurovision Song Contest is a competition for public broadcasters from all over Europe and the Middle East. It is a competition for broadcasters — not for governments — and the Israeli public broadcaster has been participating in the competition for fifty years,” the EBU says over the weekend in a response sent to the Belgian newspaper HLN.

“The EBU is a member-led organisation. The governing bodies of the EBU – led by the Board of Directors – represent the members. These authorities assessed the list of participants and decided that the Israeli public broadcaster complies with all competition rules. Together with 36 other channels, it can participate in the competition next year.”