Eurovision Song Contest Warns Israel About Participation in Future Competitions If Controversial Bill Passes Knesset

The Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) reiterated to The Algemeiner on Thursday that if Israeli lawmakers pass a controversial bill to privatize the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC], which operates the Kan television and radio network, it would affect Israel’s chances from participating in the international singing competition in the future.

“While they are member of the EBU [European Broadcasting Union], Kan remains eligible to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest,” the communications team from the Eurovision Song Contest told The Algemeiner. “The privatization of Kan would almost certainly lead to their exclusion from the EBU and therefore they would no longer be able to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest.”

The European Broadcasting Union, which represents public media organizations across Europe and North Africa, organizes the Eurovision Song Contest. The Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation has been a member of the EBU since 1957, which gives it access to news, sports and music content from its network of public service broadcasters.

Earlier this week, the EBU sent a letter to the Knesset Economic Affairs Committee expressing concern over proposed legislation in Israel that seeks to privatize the IPBC by ending its public funding and looking for a private buyer. The bill, sponsored by Likud MK Tally Gotliv, so far passed a preliminary reading 49-46 in the Knesset on Nov. 27. It states that if a buyer for IPBC cannot be found in two years, the broadcaster will be shut down completely.

The bill has been criticized by the Foreign Press Association, the Union of Journalists in Israel, the Attorney General’s Office in Israel, and the Kan network itself for its potential to hinder freedom of expression and press freedom for journalists. The EBU has previously released statements criticizing the proposed bill and related efforts in Israel to have Kan’s budget be controlled by the Israeli government.

“Public service broadcasting in Israel is under sustained political attack, facing threats that not only jeopardize its independence but its very existence in the future,” EBU Director General Noel Curran said in mid-November. “We share the concern of the Attorney General`s office that this is a political reaction to KAN`s content, from a Government that wants to either get more control over it or shut down the broadcaster altogether.”

In its letter to the Knesset Economic Affairs Committee this week, the EBU warned that if the IPBC goes private, “it will not be a member of the EBU and as a result – will not participate in Eurovision,” as cited by Israel Hayom. They asked the committee to “carefully consider” how the bill would affect IPBC’s ability to operate “in a sustained and independent manner.”

“The privatization of the IPBC would render this relationship unstable and would almost certainly lead to its removal from our union, diminishing the state’s role in major events and limiting Israeli citizens’ access to such content,“ the EBU added. “The potential loss of Kan would weaken the diversity of news, free sports broadcasting, local programming including quality children’s programming, and much more that is available to Israeli citizens, and there will be inevitable implications for international perceptions of Israel. We are ready to provide any essential support to preserve the future of public broadcasting in Israel.”

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