Israel 2019: KAN secures hosting and guarantee deposit

by Sanjay (Sergio) Jiandani 1,869 views

KAN, the Israeli national broadcaster, has announced today that Israel will definitely host the forthcoming 2019 Eurovision Song Contest after reaching to an agreement with the Israeli finance ministry and securing the € 12 million  financial guarantee deposit.

Alls well that ends well! The ongoing saga between the Israeli broadcaster and Israeli government officials on who will fund the contest and deposit the required financial guarantee to the EBU in order to secure the event hosting, has ended today with KAN and the Israeli Finance Ministry signing a deal.

Eurovision fans can now keep calm and plan their Eurovision trips to Israel, as the country will definitely host the upcoming Eurovision edition!

KAN secures hosting and financial guarantee

KAN will deposit the € 12 million guarantee for the hosting of the competition. At the end of lengthy discussions, the Ministry of Finance has agreeed that in the event that the Eurovision should not be held in Israel due to circumstances that are not dependent on the broadcaster, a proposal will be submitted to the government in order to find a solution to help the broadcaster.

Regarding the Eurovision funding and financing, further talks are to be held between the broadcaster and the professional teams in the budget division of the Ministry of Finance. The professional teams will present their recommendation to the competent authorities.

The Israeli national broadcaster believes that the Israeli government will do all in its power to ensure that Israel will host an extraordinary Eurovision edition and will meet the commitments of its ministers, as expressed in the media, regarding the budgeting of the competition.

Mr. Ayoub Kara ( Israeli Minister of Communications) was very pleased with the outcome and tweeted:

I am happy to inform the citizens of the State of Israel that the Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Israel in 2019. I thank Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his efforts to bring the most important European cultural event to our country, and I thank the members of the Finance Ministry and KAN for their cooperation in maintaining the competition.

Kan and EBU working hand in hand

Israeli national broadcaster (IPBC) and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) are working together from strength to strength in order to organize an extraordinary competition in Israel next May.

A total of three cities are eyeing to host Europe’s favorite television show in Israel next year: Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Eilat. KAN and the EBU are currently evaluating the submitted bids and checking out all the options on the table.

Israel will be playing host to the Eurovision Song Contest for the third time in Eurovision history, having hosted the contest twice before in Jerusalem in 1979 and 1999.

The official announcement of the 2019 Eurovision dates and host city is expected to take place by September.

Israel won the right to host the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest last May when Netta walked away with the coveted Eurovision trophy in Lisbon with her entry Toy.