Eurovision boss rejects letter from 72 former contestants calling for Israel ban
Last year's competition was mired in controversy.
Former Eurovision contestants have called on the competition to ban Israel and its national broadcaster Kan from this year’s contest.
Among the 72 names who have signed the open letter are the UK’s 2023 entry Mae Muller, Ireland’s 1994 champion, Charlie McGettigan, and 2017 Portuguese winner, Salvador Sobral.
They have demanded Israel’s removal from the Eurovision 2025, accusing Kan of being ‘complicit in Israel’s genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza and the decades-long regime of apartheid and military occupation against the entire Palestinian people.’ Israel has rejected accusations of genocide.
Last year, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity for his military response in Gaza. Netanyahu condemned the decision as ‘antisemitic.’
The open letter also accuses Eurovision organiser, the Eurovision Broadcasting Union (EBU), of ‘whitewashing and normalising [Israel’s] crimes’ by ‘continuing to platform’ the country and for a ‘double-standard’ after expelling Russia from the competition in 2022.
In response, Martin Green CBE, director of the Eurovision Song Contest, told Metro it was a competition that ‘promotes connections, diversity and inclusion through music.’
