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Image source, shai franco
Israel will be represented by Eden Golan in this year’s contest.
Israel’s public broadcaster has requested changes to the lyrics of a song submitted for this year’s Eurovision contest.
Organizers banned him last week for violating rules on political neutrality.
Israeli broadcaster Kan had pledged not to alter the lyrics of October Rain, an apparent reference to the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7.
But Israeli President Isaac Herzog called for “necessary adjustments” to ensure Israel can participate in the spectacle.
Israel has won the Eurovision Song Contest four times before. This year’s event will take place in Sweden, the country that won last year’s content, in May.
Kan is in the process of choosing his entry, with October Rain as the main feature and Dance Forever coming in second.
In a statement on Sunday, Kan said he had contacted the lyricists of both songs and asked them to “readapt the texts, while preserving his artistic freedom.”
President Herzog, he added, “underlined that it is precisely at a time when those who hate us are trying to repress and boycott the State of Israel” that the country “must raise its voice” in international forums.
Last month, when the European Broadcasting Union said it was evaluating the lyrics, Kan said he had “no intention of replacing the song.”
Israel’s entry, which will be performed by 20-year-old singer Eden Golan, will be confirmed next Sunday.
They include the lines “They were all good children, every one of them” and “Who told you children not to cry/ Hours and hours/ And flowers/ Life is not a game for cowards.”
The reference to flowers was significant, according to the Israel Hayom newspaper, as it often denotes fatalities in war.
In previous years, the EBU has forced national representatives to change their letters.
In 2009, Georgia withdrew from the event after its submission, We Don’t Wanna Put In, was rejected for its obvious references to the Russian president.
On the other hand, musicians from other Eurovision countries have called for the suspension of Israel due to the war in Gaza.
They include artists from Iceland, Finland, Norway, Denmark and Sweden, and several pointed out that Russia has been disqualified since its invasion of Ukraine two years ago.
Eurovision organizers have so far resisted those calls, arguing that the situations in Ukraine and Gaza are different.