Israel’s participation in Eurovision is ‘very complicated’, says RTÉ boss
By Gráinne Ní Aodha, PA
RTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst has said the issue of Israel’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest is very complicated.
Mr Bakhurst has written to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to ask for a “discussion” on Israel’s inclusion in the contest in May.
Speaking on his way into Leinster House – for a meeting with the chairman of the media committee, Alan Kelly – Mr Bakhurst said RTÉ would not pull the Irish entry out of Eurovision and did not want to “undermine” Israel’s public service broadcaster.
“It’s just to have conversation, but it’s very complicated, and the position of the Israeli public service broadcaster – who is, in the end, who enters this competition – is pretty precarious and they’re under a lot of pressure from the Israeli government, and I don’t want to undermine the Israeli public service broadcaster.”
He said: “It is very complicated issue, and I’m very well aware that a number of members would not be in favour of excluding Israel. That’s not the point.
“It needs to be raised in my view as a point of discussion.”
He said he has had “a number of discussions over the last couple of years about it” but another conversation was needed “given the level of public concern”.
He said he had spoken to director general of the EBU Noel Curran about the issue, who is a former director general of RTÉ.
“We just had a general discussion about my concerns and the fact that I would be writing to him.”
Asked if RTÉ would pull its Irish entry – the song Laika Party performed by singer Emmy – out of the competition, he said: “No, absolutely, (we) won’t pull out of it.”
Eurovision, which is hosted by the EBU, will begin on May 13th in Switzerland with the final on May 17th.
Israel is set to be represented at the contest by Yuval Raphael, 24, a survivor of the October 7th, 2023 Hamas attack.
Mr Bakhurst said he was mindful of RTÉ’s role as an impartial public news service, but said he was “appalled” by ongoing events in the Middle East.
The development came after members of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) at RTÉ called on the broadcaster to follow the lead of some other European public service stations by formally opposing Israel’s participation.
Previously, the EBU has said it appreciated there are concerns about the “current conflict in the Middle East” and remains “in constant contact with those participating this year”.