On Wednesday, Israeli media outlet Ynet revealed that the song “Dance Forever” submitted by the delegation to the competition organisers had been rejected on the grounds that its content was deemed political, in breach of the rules of the music competition. The song is said to refer to the Hamas attack on the Nova Music festival on 7 October.
Political stakes
“We have the right to sing about what we have been through”, says Israel Katz, the Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs, who was outraged when the song was rejected for the competition. However, his statement removes any doubt about the nature of the song’s lyrics, which are clearly political.
For the time being, however, Israel is not (yet?) withdrawing from the 2024 edition of Eurovision, organised by Sweden in Malmö. The Israeli delegation says it is continuing to seek a solution with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The issue is highly political in Israel, as demonstrated by the involvement of the country’s president in finding a compromise solution.
Second rejection for Israel in a week
Last week, a first song, “October Rain”, was rejected by the EBU, also because its text was deemed political. The Israeli Minister of Culture, Miki Zohar, described the decision as “scandalous”.
Like everyone else taking part in the ESC 2024, Israel has until mid-March to send the EBU a song that complies with the rules. Otherwise, it will not take part in the competition.
The country should be represented by Eden Golan in the second semi-final on 9 May in Malmö.
