Israel is threatening to withdraw from the Eurovision Song Contest in Sweden this year if it has to amend the lyrics of its song.
According to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the lyrics refer to Hamas' terror attack on 7 October and may therefore be "too political."
While the lyrics of Israel's entry, "October rain" by Eden Golan, do not explicitly mention Hamas' attack on 7 October 2023, they do allude to it.
"Dancing in the storm, we got nothing to hide. Take me home and leave the world behind. And I promise you that never again, I’m still wet from this October rain," Golan sings in the chorus.
The EBU said it is examining the words "October rain" and that no decision has yet been made. The organisation's rules state that song lyrics cannot contain political messages.
“We are currently in the process of evaluating the lyrics, a process which is confidential between the EBU and the broadcaster until a final decision is made. All broadcasters have until 11 March to formally submit their entries," the EBU said. "If a song is deemed unacceptable for any reason, the broadcasters are then given the opportunity to submit a new song or new lyrics, in accordance with the contest rules.”
Israel's public broadcaster KAN confirmed that it is in talks with the EBU, but added that there is "no intention to replace the song." The broadcaster added that if the EBU does not approve the song, "Israel will not participate in the contest to be held in Sweden next May."
The Israeli Minister for Culture, Miki Zohar, called the EBU’s intention to exclude the entry from Eurovision "scandalous" on social media, stating that Golan's song "expresses the feelings of the people and the country these days and is not political." Zohar called on the Union to "continue to act professionally and neutrally" and "not to let politics influence art."
Due to the violence in Gaza after 7 October, Israel's participation in this year's Eurovision was already controversial before the entry was announced.
In recent months, there have been growing calls and petitions in hosting country Sweden (as well as in other countries) to exclude Israel from taking part in this year's contest – on the same grounds as Russia, which has also not been allowed to participate since its invasion of Ukraine.
In 2019, the Eurovision song contest took place in Tel Aviv, Israel, with Duncan Laurence with Arcade from the Netherlands as the winner.
