It was officially revealed that complaints from various sources against the conduct of the Israeli delegation at Eurovision 2024 were unfounded, and no official complaint was filed against it with the European Broadcasting Union.

Last night, in a quiet but highly significant move, it was officially disclosed that not a single complaint was filed against the Israeli delegation at Eurovision 2024. As a reminder, the participation of Eden Golan, Israel’s representative for Eurovision 2024, and her delegation in the competition, provoked numerous reactions from journalists and complaints from various contestants that escalated to threats of withdrawal from the competition. This revelation was made by the head of the contest’s reference group, Bakel Walden, in an interview with a fan podcast.


 

Walden explained the decision to accept Israel into Eurovision 2024 simply, emphasizing that as long as the Israeli national broadcaster meets all the rules, it can participate. Walden stated that despite the hate Israel received on social media and complaints from various delegation members, including the artists themselves, no complaint was filed against Israel by any national broadcaster that is a member of the European Broadcasting Union.

He said:” It was very simple. They [KAN] are a member of EBU, and it has been expressed many times by the EBU that as long as you play by the rules, you are eligible to participate. That was the case for KAN, and they are eligible. There were obviously different opinions in social media, we’ve heard from delegations, etc., but at the end of the day, there was not one single member of the EBU who expressed any official resentment.”


 

Israel and Russia: Fundamentally Different!

The comparison between Israel’s case and Russia’s case came up many times on social media and in general this year, but Walden clarified that the cases are fundamentally different. He explained that Russia’s exclusion from the Eurovision competition happened due to propaganda by the Russian national broadcaster that violated EBU rules, while the situation in Israel is extremely different.

“There’s a clear difference between a state broadcaster that is just following propaganda, which is not actually playing by the rules and values of the EBU.

KAN itself has been in a difficult situation, also with the Israeli government. There is a different situation in how they position themselves, but I absolutely acknowledge that me and the Reference Group have been very much aware that the difference hasn’t been clear and hasn’t been accepted by a lot of people.”

Walden’s statements put an end to the many rumors about the opposition of national broadcasters from all over Europe to Israel’s participation, leaving the hatred solely in the realm of social media users. They emphasize the EBU’s line – as long as a member national broadcaster is a full member of the EBU and complies with all the rules, it is invited to participate in Eurovision.




Israel in Eurovision 2024

“Hurricane” is the name of the song performed by singer Eden Golan, who was chosen to represent Israel after winning the tenth season of “HaKochav Haba”. Israel advanced to the final after winning the second semi-final with 194 points, and in the grand final reached fifth place with 375 points. In the public vote, Israel came in second place, just 14 points behind the first place.

This is the second consecutive time that Israel has reached the top five, an achievement it had not attained since its streak of successes in 1998-1999.

Source:  Eurovisionfun.

Eurovision 2024: This was Israel’s 46th participation in Eurovision. Israel joined the competition in 1973 and has won it four times over the years. Israel’s last victory was at Eurovision 2018 with the song “Toy” performed by singer Netta Barzilai.