A group of Israeli song-writers has issuing an ultimatum to the Kan Broadcasting Corporation: reopen the selection process to pick the Israeli entry for the Eurovision Song Contest or face a petition to the Supreme Court.
The group alleges that the selection of a song written by Keren Peles, who also co-wrote last year's entry, was a conflict of interest, Ynet was first to report. Over 20 song-writiers expressed outrage since Peles performed her song in the presentation to the selection committee.
Now, protest organizers have renewed their call for additional creators to sign the warning letter, which sets an ultimatum for Kan and threatens legal action if demands are not met. The creators were racing against time, as the European Broadcasting Union has set March 10 as the final deadline for submitting songs for this year's contest.
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Kan Broadcasting Corporation responded: "The creators’ appeal has not yet been received by the corporation. The process of selecting the song to represent Israel at Eurovision was conducted flawlessly, with close legal oversight and the presence of a public representative. We remind everyone once again—the song was unanimously chosen by all members of the selection committee. Of the seven committee members, five are employees of the corporation with no connection to the creator, meaning the song would have been selected to represent Israel in Eurovision regardless of the circumstances."
What isn't disputed, though, is the identity of the performing artist - Yuval Raphael, a Nova massacre survivor. She began her professional singing career in 2023, but her connection to music runs deep. Growing up, she spent three years of her childhood in Geneva, during which her musical influences ranged from iconic rock bands like Led Zeppelin and the Scorpions to legendary vocalists such as Beyoncé and Celine Dion.
On October 7, 2023, Raphael’s life took a dramatic turn while attending the Nova music festival in Re'im. As Hamas terrorists began their massacre, she hid in a bomb shelter near Kibbutz Be’eri with 50 others. During the assault, she was wounded by shrapnel from grenades hurled into the shelter. Despite the chaos and horror, she was one of only 11 survivors, enduring eight agonizing hours under the bodies of the dead to stay alive.
Raphael recounted the horrors of her ordeal in an addressed before the United Nations Human Rights Council.