The World Madrid

Madrid

Updated Wednesday, February 21, 2024-18:51

  • Eden Golan Israel's representative at Eurovision who pays tribute to the hostages held by Hamas: "There is nothing that moves me more"

  • There will be no 'eurodrama' Eurovision considers Zorra "fit" to represent Spain

Israel

's participation

in

Eurovision

is more in question than ever. If there were many voices that criticized the country's presence in

Malmö

next March in the midst of

the war in Gaza

, this Wednesday it is the organizing body of the contest that calls into question

Israel

's actions . The reason: "The lyrics of your song are too political."

According to local media, including

The Times of Israel

, the

European Broadcasting Union (EBU)

, organizer of the

Eurovision Song

Contest , considers that the lyrics of

October Rain

contravene its participation policy. Although it has not yet been officially published, the title already suggests that the lyrics refer to the Hamas attacks of October 7 that gave rise to a war that has no signs of ending.

Eurovision

rules

prohibit direct political references in the lyrics of national entries.

A spokeswoman for public broadcaster

Kan

has confirmed to

The Times of Israel

that they are in talks with the EBU to prevent Israel from being banned from Eurovision.

October rain

, performed by singer

Aden Golan

, was scheduled

to be publicly presented on Israeli television last week, but the public corporation delayed its premiere due to doubts from the

EBU

.

The

Ynet

portal points out that this is not a unique case, and that the review by the

Eurovision

organizer is always exhaustive. Faced with European voices pointing to disqualification, Israeli public television has been blunt: "We will not change the lyrics or the song, even at the cost of

Israel

not participating in

Eurovision

this year."

Israel

's participation

in

Eurovision

has sowed controversy from the beginning. After the start of the

war in Gaza

last fall, many remembered the case of

Russia

, which was left out in 2022 after the

invasion of Ukraine

.