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THE THIRD crisis to threaten next year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Israel was resolved this week when the country’s public broadcaster struck a deal with the government over funding.
Kan, the broadcaster, had sought help to pay a €12 million (£10.7 million) deposit to the European Broadcast Union (EBU) as a guarantee that it will be able to host the competition.
But Israel’s government refused to lend it the sum and organisers of previous editions of the contest in Israel appeared to support the stance, telling the media that they had organised earlier Eurovisions without special government help.
Israel won the right to host the 2019 edition after Netta Barzilai’s victory in May.
On Tuesday afternoon, Kan announced it would be taking out a loan for the sum without government guarantees, but added that it had received promises from the Ministry of Finance that it would be compensated if the contest was called off for political or security reasons. Further meetings are to be held to discuss potential government aid.
The deal came after two previous spats since Ms Barzilai’s victory.
In June, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would not insist on holding the event in Jerusalem after ministers admitted it could create a diplomatic and public relations debacle.
Later that month, the Israeli government formally abandoned plans to divide Kan’s news and entertainment output into separate companies after the EBU said it would render the broadcaster ineligible to host the contest.