Could Israel Be Returning To Eurovision After All?

"Erev tob This is Jerusalem Calling".... Well during the voting of the Eurovision 2017 we were certainly led to believe that we wouldn't hear those words again, and that the 2017 contest would be the last one that Israel would participate in. It was announced that the Eurovision would be the last public broadcast by the IBA who would terminate all broadcasts after the contest.

Arthur the regular spokesperson for Israel quit live on air and said, "This is IBA, Channel 1 calling from Jerusalem. For the past 44 years, Israel has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest, winning three times...."But tonight, is our final night, shortly IBA will shut down its broadcasting forever, so on behalf of all of us here in IBA, let me say thank you Europe for all the magical moments and the beautiful years. And hopefully we shall meet again in the future."

This echoed a sad time for many, the powerhouse that brought us "A Ba Ni Bi" "Hellelujah" and the "Diva" that was Dana International was to no longer participate in the contest, meaning no more Israel in the competition. However it has been announced today, that this may not actually be the case thanks to IPBC and the EBU.

It has been reported that the two have reached an agreement which would see the Israeli new broadcaster participate in the next contest. Although, it can't be officially announced until this December, signals do look good for Israel and the Eurovision who have had quite a special relationship over the years.

The main issues with IPBC is that some of the rules for being accepted into the European Broadcasting fold, would not have been achieved. One of which would have been to broadcast the 2017 Eurovision which officially it didn't as IBA did. Also another key requirement for membership is that a broadcaster must have news broadcasts. IPBC stated initially that it wouldn't. However, it has an evening broadcast, and several in depth news broadcasts scheduled on different days of the week.

Therefore, this deal that has brokered will give the new Israeli channel an opportunity to fill in relevant applications that will allow it to be brought back into the Eurovision fold. It will also mean it can broadcast European football and other Eurovision network programmes.

Eurovision wants to expand, it wants to get the viewers in, so surely being slightly lenient and allowing the new channel time to fulfil the requirements in such a short space of time should be a must. Israel has offered some classic songs over the years, and long may it continue. Towards the end of the year, the final list of competing countries should be announced. Hopefully Israel will be back where it belongs in the Eurovision family.

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