Eurovision 2019: EBU’s statement on Israel’s hosting and financial guarantee

by Sanjay (Sergio) Jiandani 5,966 views

In the wake of the latest developments in Israel regarding the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest hosting and if the country will forfeit its right to host the competition next year, if it doesn’t submit the required financial guarantee to the EBU, ESCToday decided to investigate further into the matter and contacted the EBU in  order to shed more light on the current situation afflicting the broadcaster.

This weekend saw numerous reports emerge in the local Israeli media about the tug of war between the Israeli government officials and host broadcaster KAN regarding the forthcoming Eurovision Song Contest in Israel and its funding.

Financial guarantee deadline

The extended deadline for KAN to submit a financial guarantee to the EBU in order to secure the hosting of the competition in Israel concludes tomorrow. The local Israeli media have been reporting that KAN has threatened to pull out of the event if the government does not fund the event and provide the guarantee, leading to speculation that the contest could moved to another country if the broadcaster fails to deposit the 12 million Euros guarantee by Tuesday 14 August.

Earlier today Mr. Moshe Kahlon (Finance Minister) told Israeli news media Ynet that KAN could easily deposit the required guarantee to the EBU:

They are able to put up the guarantee in a minute. If they don’t transfer the guarantee, they will be making a serious mistake. The corporation is a public entity, it gets money from the public and it needs to work according to rules.

Holding the Eurovision [in Israel] depends only on the broadcaster. There is no one standing in its way.

Will Israel forfeit its right to host the Eurovision Song Contest next year? Can KAN and the Israeli government resolve this issue and come up with a solution in the next 24 hours? Will the contest move to another country?

The EBU’s statement

Hence ESCToday reached out the the EBU in order to clarify the matter and enlighten our readers about the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest in Israel and the current situation afflicting IPBC.

The EBU gave ESCToday the following statement:

The EBU is working closely with KAN ahead of tomorrow’s deadline, on advancing arrangements for next year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Israel. Every year financial guarantees must be made to the EBU before plans are put in place and the host city for the Eurovision Song Contest is announced. If a situation ever arose in which a broadcaster could not fulfil their requirements there are always contingency plans in place, as is normal when planning such a large event with many international stakeholders.

Eurovision 2019 host city and dates

The dates and host city for the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest in Israel are expected to be officially announced by September. A total of three cities are vying to host the competition next year; Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Eilat.

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