2024-07-03 10:19:10
Despite the ongoing war in Gaza and the unrest caused by Israel at the last Eurovision, Jean-Philippe de Tender, Deputy Director General of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), confirmed in a recent interview with Swedish radio station P4 that Israel will be able to take part in next year’s contest.
It remains unclear which Swiss city will host Eurovision 2025, but de Tender clarified that Israel is complying with the rules of the contest and will be allowed to participate, despite the chaos and protests caused by its participation in the contest in May this year.
De Tender said the EBU had carried out an independent investigation following the controversy surrounding Israel’s Eden Golan’s performance, which concluded that EBU member Kan, the Israeli public broadcaster, was eligible to participate in Eurovision 2025.
Confirming that the Eurovision Song Contest is non-political, as stressed before the last event, de Tender confirmed Israel’s right to participate. However, he believes the EBU needs to communicate its decision-making process better: “I think we need to explain the decision-making process better to all stakeholders, so that people understand what this event stands for and what its purpose is.”
Responding to concerns that some countries might withdraw from the competition because of Israel’s participation, de Tender noted that no country has yet officially announced such an intention.
Following the disqualification of the Netherlands’ representative Joost Klein at the last contest, the Netherlands said about a month ago that they were considering withdrawing from next year’s competition, but have yet to make an official statement.
De Tender acknowledged the Netherlands’ intentions but expressed confidence that the country would take part. He added that if Klein wanted to return to the contest, there would be no reason to stop him from doing so.
Earlier, Cursor wrote that the Eurovision 2024 star made a harsh comment about Israel.