Israel have no place in the Eurovision Song Contest line-up - Steve Cardownie

I am much more interested in what’s happening “off-stage” than what’s happening “on-stage.” This year will be the show’s 70th and it could prove to be one of the most controversial yet. Israel’s participation in the contest has understandably provoked something of a backlash with a number of broadcasters boycotting the event altogether and with police in Vienna preparing for demonstrations throughout the week.

Noam Bettan from Israel performs the song "Michelle" during the dress rehearsal for the first semifinal of the 70th Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna on Monday

The police have said that they were expecting 3000 people to attend a demonstration on the day of the final under the banner “Solidarity with Palestine” with a counter demonstration supporting Israel’s participation expected to attract around 50-100 participants.

A number of countries have declined to participate in the contest with Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Slovenia and Iceland staying away. The five breakaway nations announced their intentions last December in protest at Israel’s invitation to compete.

Russia was quite rightly banned after its illegal invasion of Ukraine and the European Broadcasting Union (which organises the contest) has been accused of double standards by not meting out the same treatment to Israel.

Some Israeli interests are already seeking to use the contest as a propaganda tool. Voting rule changes mean that the maximum number of votes one can cast will be reduced from 20 to 10 per payment route such as online or text.

A formal warning was given to Israeli broadcaster KAN after promotional videos with an on-screen instruction to “vote ten times for Israel” were published by the artist representing KAN.

This prompted the contest’s director, Martin Green, to say that a call to use the ten votes on one artist or one song was not in line with the rules or the spirit of the competition and issued KAN with a formal warning.

Israel’s presence has provided the state with a cloak of respectability which will be exploited for all its worth - they should never have been allowed to do so.