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Eurovision Head Discredits Israel-Russia Comparisons While Commenting on Pressure to Disqualify Jewish State From Contest
People hold a banner at a demonstration to stop Israel’s participation in Eurovision, outside the City Hall in Malmo, Sweden, April 10, 2024. Photo: Reuters
Jean Philip de Tender — the deputy director-general of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organized the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest — on Sunday addressed the controversy surrounding Israel’s participation in the international competition.
Appearing on Sky News, he also insisted that “the situation with Russia is different” when asked why Russia and Belarus were not allowed to compete this year in the competition, which will take place from May 7-11 in Malmo, Sweden.
“First of all, we do understand the concerns and deeply held views that many people have around the war in the Middle East, and I think nobody can remain untouched by the profound suffering of everybody involved in that war,” De Tender began saying. “The Eurovision Song Concert is a music event, which is organized and co-produced by 37 public broadcasters, so it’s not a competition between nations or governments.”
For months, anti-Israel activists around the world have tried to pressure the EBU to disqualify or disinvite the Jewish state from the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest because of its ongoing war against Hamas terrorists controlling the Gaza Strip — a conflict triggered by Hamas’ invasion of southern Israel and massacre of civilians on Oct. 7. Participating artists have faced pressure to pull out of the Eurovision event as a way to boycott Israel’s involvement, and Israel’s representative in the contest, Eden Golan, has reportedly received death threats. Israel also increased the threat level for traveling to Malmo in response to threats of potential terrorist attacks that could target Israelis visiting the city for the Eurovision.
De Tender told Sky News that when the governing bodies of the EBU, which is a member-led organization, reviewed Israel’s involvement in this year’s Eurovision, they concluded that the Israeli public broadcaster Kan had “met all of the obligations” listed in the competition’s rules that would allow them to take part in the Eurovision. The circumstances were different regarding’s Russia’s involvement in the Eurovision competition, De Tender added.
“With Russia there was a broad consensus within the membership of the EBU that they could not participate,” he said. In addition, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and amid the ongoing war between the two countries, the three Russian members of the EBU were removed for being in breach of member obligations.
“And that is not the case with Kan,” De Tender explained. He said Eurovision steers clear of politics and that if the EBU would exclude Kan because of something outside of competition rules “that would have been a political decision.”
Golan skipped the opening event of the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest on Sunday night to instead hold a small ceremony marking Holocaust Remembrance Day, which started that night in Israel.
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Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem, Sept. 2, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
Israel has decided to send a delegation to Qatar for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, an Israeli official said, reviving hopes of a breakthrough in negotiations to end the almost 21-month war.
Palestinian group Hamas said on Friday it had responded to a US-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal in a “positive spirit,” a few days after US President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed “to the necessary conditions to finalize” a 60-day truce.
The Israeli negotiation delegation will fly to Qatar on Sunday, the Israeli official, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters.
But in a sign of the potential challenges still facing the two sides, a Palestinian official from a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing in southern Israel to Egypt and clarity over a timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to meet Trump in Washington on Monday, has yet to comment on Trump’s announcement, and in their public statements Hamas and Israel remain far apart.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the terrorist group, which is thought to be holding 20 living hostages, has so far refused to discuss.
Israeli media said on Friday that Israel had received and was reviewing Hamas’ response to the ceasefire proposal.
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Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran
Tucker Carlson speaks on July 18, 2024 during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo: Jasper Colt-USA TODAY via Reuters Connect
US conservative talk show host Tucker Carlson said in an online post on Saturday that he had conducted an interview with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, which would air in the next day or two.
Carlson said the interview was conducted remotely through a translator, and would be published as soon as it was edited, which “should be in a day or two.”
Carlson said he had stuck to simple questions in the interview, such as, “What is your goal? Do you seek war with the United States? Do you seek war with Israel?”
“There are all kinds of questions that I didn’t ask the president of Iran, particularly questions to which I knew I could get an not get an honest answer, such as, ‘was your nuclear program totally disabled by the bombing campaign by the US government a week and a half ago?’” he said.
Carlson also said he had made a third request in the past several months to interview Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will be visiting Washington next week for talks with US President Donald Trump.
Trump said on Friday he would discuss Iran with Netanyahu at the White House on Monday.
Trump said he believed Tehran’s nuclear program had been set back permanently by recent US strikes that followed Israel’s attacks on the country last month, although Iran could restart it at a different location.
Trump also said Iran had not agreed to inspections of its nuclear program or to give up enriching uranium. He said he would not allow Tehran to resume its nuclear program, adding that Iran did want to meet with him.
Pezeshkian said last month Iran does not intend to develop nuclear weapons but will pursue its right to nuclear energy and research.
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Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – As Israeli leaders weigh the contours of a possible partial ceasefire deal with Hamas, the families of the 50 hostages still held in Gaza issued an impassioned public statement this weekend, condemning any agreement that would return only some of the abductees.
In a powerful message released Saturday, the Families Forum for the Return of Hostages denounced what they call the “beating system” and “cruel selection process,” which, they say, has left families trapped in unbearable uncertainty for 638 days—not knowing whether to hope for reunion or prepare for mourning.
The group warned that a phased or selective deal—rumored to be under discussion—would deepen their suffering and perpetuate injustice. Among the 50 hostages, 22 are believed to be alive, and 28 are presumed dead.
“Every family deserves answers and closure,” the Forum said. “Whether it is a return to embrace or a grave to mourn over—each is sacred.”
They accused the Israeli government of allowing political considerations to prevent a full agreement that could have brought all hostages—living and fallen—home long ago. “It is forbidden to conform to the dictates of Schindler-style lists,” the statement read, invoking a painful historical parallel.
“All of the abductees could have returned for rehabilitation or burial months ago, had the government chosen to act with courage.”
The call for a comprehensive deal comes just as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares for high-stakes talks in Washington and as indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas are expected to resume in Doha within the next 24 hours, according to regional media reports.
Hamas, for its part, issued a statement Friday confirming its readiness to begin immediate negotiations on the implementation of a ceasefire and hostage release framework.
The Forum emphasized that every day in captivity poses a mortal risk to the living hostages, and for the deceased, a danger of being lost forever. “The horror of selection does not spare any of us,” the statement said. “Enough with the separation and categories that deepen the pain of the families.”
In a planned public address near Begin Gate in Tel Aviv, families are gathering Saturday evening to demand that the Israeli government accept a full-release deal—what they describe as the only “moral and Zionist” path forward.
“We will return. We will avenge,” the Forum concluded. “This is the time to complete the mission.”
As of now, the Israeli government has not formally responded to Hamas’s latest statement.
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