This year’s Eurovision contest is already off to a contentious start, as pressure is mounting on the organizers to oust Israel’s contestant from the competition before it even begins. 

On Wednesday, with just a week to go until the competition kicks off in Switzerland, Ireland’s national broadcaster, RTÉ, asked the European Broadcasting Union to hold a discussion regarding the inclusion of Israel in the show. RTÉ’s director general, who issued the letter, stated that he was “appalled by the ongoing events in the Middle East and by the horrific impact on civilians in Gaza, and the fate of Israeli hostages.” 

The letter was written amid pressure from RTÉ’s members of the National Union of Journalists, who urged the broadcaster to formally oppose Israel’s participation. RTÉ now joins Iceland, Slovenia, and Spain as the fourth broadcaster to call for Israel’s participation to be reconsidered. 

The letters, however, appear to have had little effect on Eurovision’s director, Martin Green, who responded by stating: “No participating EBU member broadcaster, who have all been widely consulted, has ‘publicly opposed’ Israeli broadcaster Kan’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest — despite the claims in another letter from RTÉ journalists.”

Mr. Green noted that the song contest’s organizers “understand the concerns and deeply held views around the current conflict in the Middle East,” but insisted that the event should remain a “universal event that promotes connections, diversity and inclusion through music.” 

Calls to drop Israel and its national broadcaster, Kan, have also been coming from past Eurovision contestants. Earlier this week, a group of some 70 former participants signed a petition citing Israel’s “genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza and the decades-long regime of apartheid and military occupation against the entire Palestinian people” as grounds for the group’s expulsion from the event. Mr. Green similarly dismissed that boycott effort. 

Meanwhile, Israel’s chosen contestant, Yuval Raphael, is preparing to take the stage in Basel, Switzerland, where she will sing her ballad “New Day Will Rise.” The 24-year-old rising star from Ra’anana has captured the hearts of the Israeli public with her harrowing story of surviving the Nova Festival massacre. 

Ms. Raphael, who attended the October 7, 2023, festival with a group of friends, was huddled in a roadside bomb shelter when a group of Hamas terrorists opened fire on the dozens of youngsters piled inside, killing many of them and wounding the young singer. Ms. Raphael played dead in the shelter for eight hours until she was rescued by the father of another partygoer. 

Her song, which includes lyrics like, “New day will rise, life will go on,” is generally interpreted by Israelis as a tribute to overcoming the horrors of Hamas’s October 7 attack. Given the competition’s strict no-politics policy, however, her team is being careful not to draw any direct connection between the Nova Festival and her performance.

Last year, Israel’s original entry, a song called “October Rain,” was denied for being too political. 

As the competition inches closer, Ms. Raphael is gearing up to face anti-Israel protests that similarly roiled her Eurovision predecessor, Eden Golan. Ms. Golan, who competed in last year’s contest in Sweden, faced fierce opposition from anti-Israel viewers and fellow participants. With rowdy protestors swarming the arena in Malmo, Ms. Golan was mostly forced to stay in her hotel room for the duration of the competition. 

Ms. Raphael, mirroring the fortitude of her fellow Israeli singer, Ms. Golan, is not letting the controversy get to her.

“I’m 100 percent focused on the music, I’m 100 percent focused on my song,” she told the Times of Israel. “There are things that I can control and things that I can’t control. Ultimately, there’s no point investing energy in something I can’t control … the most important thing to me is to bring honor to my country and do the best I can.”