“Jerusalem isn’t at all a given” says Israeli Official

Since Netta’s victory last month, speculation on where next year’s contest will be hosted has been rife.  A senior official has today claimed that the government’s preferred host city may not be the contest’s home next year.

“Eurovision in Jerusalem? It isn’t at all a given,

Yossi Sharabi, director of the Culture and Sport Ministry, made the claim in a response to a question regarding the cancellation of a football match between Argentina and Israel.  The match would originally take place in Haifa. Israeli authorities however moved the match to Jerusalem. The Argentinian national team received criticism from several Palestinian groups for their trip to the city. As a result, the Argentinian FA cancelled the match altogether.

When speaking to the Sports 5 news channel regarding next year’s event, the director answered:

Eurovision in Jerusalem? It isn’t at all a given. It’s early to talk about this. Everybody wants it to be in Jerusalem. But there could well be other considerations.

Uncomfirmed rumours – EBU unhappy

Following Israel’s victory, ministers Ayoub Kara and Miri Regev spoke about next year’s host city. They implied that next year’s host city would indeed be Jerusalem. News website Haaretz report that EBU officials were unhappy with these comments, promoting the following response.

For Regev and Kara to make decisions even before they hear anything about hosting the Eurovision is not acceptable as far as the EBU people are concerned.

When speaking to Channel 2 News, Kara revealed his fear that political interference could derail the Eurovision Song Contest taking place in Jerusalem, promoting him not to intervene.

“I’m not going to touch the Eurovision, they’ll throw something at me”

What do you think about the new developments in Israel? Let us know which city you’d like to see hosting Eurovision 2019 below!