After long weeks of friction between the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation and the European Broadcasting Union, in which it seemed that in a precedent-setting manner Israel would cancel its participation in the European Song Contest, a compromise was reached – and Israel will indeed appear in the competition expected to take place in Malmo, southern Sweden, this coming May.
As Rememberd, the problem came from the song chosen by Israel for this year’s competition, “October Rain.” The song alludes quite unequivocally to the events of the outbreak of the war and October 7th, and thus stood in the sights of the members of the European Union – who sought to disqualify the song on the grounds of political content. It is important to note that to date, countries with many songs that dealt with historical events or wars have participated, and they have never been charged with carrying out a political program or disqualified from the competition. This consideration led the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation to declare in protest that Israel would not send another song, and that the disqualification of the song is equivalent to the disqualification of Israel.
This rigid position of the broadcasting corporation was moderated by a personal appeal from President Isaac Herzog, who clarified the moral importance of Israel’s participation in the competition and the symbolism of Israel remaining part of the world countries Commonwealth – without forcibly removing itself from the camp of nations. A new song was written by Keren Pels, Avi Ohayon and Stav Beger, “Hurricane”, which deals with a woman’s personal crisis, and it is difficult to give it any political commentary even in the strictest opinion. The song will be released to the public this coming Sunday.
Israel’s chances of winning a contest are mixed, and seem to have nothing to do with the quality of the song, but with the degree of European sympathy for the country at the time of the competition. Nevertheless, we wish the representative of Israel in the competition – the young Eden Golan, great success, in the hope that she will represent us with dignity.
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