The board of Israeli broadcaster IBA convened yesterday to discuss next year's budget and plan. The broadcaster's general manager expressed his doubts concerning Eurovision Song Contest's participation.
Israeli broadcaster IBA, which suffered a lot of criticism inrecent years,has been enjoying a revival lately, after its nice productions during FIFA World Cup. Now, the broadcaster is keen to use this leverage to future plans. Israeli leading website for media and communication Ice.co.il reported yesterday that during IBA's board meeting, general manager Mordechai Shklar expressed doubts about the necessity of participating in the Eurovision Song Contest.
"When IBA did not have a solid plan with anchor programmes, our Eurovision participation once a year was worth it. But now, that we are getting stronger, this might not be true anymore", said Shklar. It should be noted, that IBA's manager has already expressed several times in the past his opinion, according to which, IBA should withdraw from the contest. Nevertheless, Israel never withdrew.
Israel's achievements in Eurovision during the last decade were mostly poor. In 2010 Israel even sent one its most popular artists, Har'el Ska'at, who finished 14th in the final. Nevertheless, his particiaption did not attract much attention and viewing figures, as expected.