Eurovision‘s Israel team have accused its competitors of “an unprecedented display of hatred”.
This year’s competition was dogged by controversy, including criticism towards the EBU’s decision to include Israel amongst their role in the Israel-Palestine conflict. 20-year-old Eden Golan, this year’s entry, faced boos during her performance at the finale. However, she eventually placed fifth, having been awarded the second-highest number of points from the public vote.
Now, Israel’s broadcaster Kan have issued a statement (as per BBC News), claiming that the Israeli delegation “faced immense pressure and an unprecedented display of hatred, notably from other delegations and artists, publicly and collectively, solely because of the simple fact that we are Israelis and that we were there,” it said.
“However, throughout the journey, the delegation maintained a dignified and respectful approach towards artists and other delegations, striving to foster unity around music while adhering to the competition’s rules, unlike some other delegations.”
“Despite the impossible challenges,” they continued”, Eden Golan handled the task admirably, earning respect, and the received points from the European audience speaks for itself. We could not be more proud of the result.”
Previously, other Eurovision entries such as Ireland’s Bambie Thug have spoken out against Israel’s inclusion this year. They told NME they didn’t think the EBU “made the right decision” ahead of the competition.
Bambie went on to raise a complaint with the EBU about the Israeli delegation’s behaviour towards them over one of the broadcaster’s comments towards them. They have since claimed the EBU confirmed their comments “broke the rules of conduct”, but had not imposed sanctions on the delegation.
According to the BBC, there were also allegations that the Israeli delegation had filmed other contestants without their permission. Such complaints arose from the Dutch team, whose entry Joost Klein was disqualified just before the competition over alleged threats towards a female member of production. Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS later claimed he was filmed “against clearly made agreements”, clarifying Klein did not touch the camera staff.
There were further reports that Ireland, Greece, Portugal and eventual winner Switzerland hosted a “crisis meeting” with the EBU, where they threatened to walk away. It is unclear what was discussed in the meeting.
In other news, Eurovision 2024 winner Nemo has hit out at the competition’s “unbelievable double standard”, saying it “needs fixing”.
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