Israel's participation in the Eurovision Song Contest is managed entirely by Kan — the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (Hebrew: כאן, meaning "Here") — which serves as the country's official member broadcaster of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). As the EBU membership holder, Kan bears full institutional responsibility for selecting Israel's representative artist and song, producing the national broadcast, coordinating with Eurovision organizers, and upholding the editorial and financial obligations that come with contest participation. The broadcaster's role is therefore not merely logistical but deeply cultural and diplomatic, placing it at the intersection of Israeli public life and the international arena of competitive televised performance.
From IBA to Kan: The Transition of Israel's Eurovision Mandate
Israel first competed in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1973 under the auspices of the Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA), the state broadcaster that held EBU membership for over four decades. The IBA was formally dissolved following the passage of Israel's Public Broadcasting Law in 2014, and Kan officially launched operations in 2017 as its successor institution, absorbing the IBA's EBU membership along with its broadcasting infrastructure. This transition was not without turbulence; the closure of the IBA and the birth of Kan involved significant institutional restructuring, staff changes, and political debate about the mission of public broadcasting in Israel.
From the moment Kan assumed operational control, it inherited Eurovision as one of its most high-profile international obligations. The 2018 contest, held in Lisbon, Portugal, proved to be a watershed moment: Netta Barzilai, selected through Kan's national selection process, won the contest with her internationally acclaimed song "Toy." This victory carried enormous consequence, as Eurovision rules require the winning country's broadcaster to host the following year's contest. Kan therefore found itself tasked with organizing and co-producing Eurovision 2019 in Tel Aviv — one of the most complex undertakings in the broadcaster's short history.
Key Facts About Kan and Eurovision
- Kan replaced the Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA) as Israel's EBU member broadcaster when it launched in 2017, inheriting Israel's long-standing Eurovision participation rights.
- Kan used the national television selection format HaKokhav HaBa ("The Next Star"), a televised talent competition, as one of its primary methods for choosing Eurovision representatives, blending public engagement with professional editorial oversight.
- Israel has won the Eurovision Song Contest four times in total — in 1978, 1979, 1998, and 2018 — with the most recent victory, Netta Barzilai's "Toy," occurring under Kan's stewardship and leading directly to Kan co-hosting Eurovision 2019 in Tel Aviv.
- In 2024, Kan selected Eden Golan to represent Israel in Malmö, Sweden, with the song "Hurricane" (an amended version of the originally submitted "October Rain"); Golan finished fifth overall and won the public televote by a significant margin.
- In 2025, Kan's representative Yuval Raphael finished second in the Eurovision Song Contest held in Basel, Switzerland, again winning the public vote — demonstrating consistent popular support for Israel's entries across Europe and beyond.
- German public broadcaster SWR confirmed in late 2025 that "the Israeli broadcaster Kan meets all the requirements associated with participation" in Eurovision, affirming the EBU's position on Kan's standing as a qualifying member organization.
Analysis: Kan's Institutional Role Under Political and International Pressure
Kan's management of Eurovision participation has unfolded against a backdrop of intensifying political and diplomatic pressures, both domestic and international. Domestically, the broadcaster has operated under strain from the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with credible reports — including coverage in The Guardian — indicating that Kan has been threatened with privatization amid accusations from the political right that it maintains an editorially left-leaning bias. This tension is significant, as it bears on the independence that public broadcasters are expected to maintain under EBU guidelines, which require member broadcasters to operate free from direct governmental editorial control.
Internationally, Kan's EBU membership has become a focal point of geopolitical controversy, particularly following the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023. Several national broadcasters — including Iceland, Slovenia, and others — announced boycotts of Eurovision events, citing objections to Kan's continued participation. Iceland's withdrawal statement explicitly named Kan, noting that "participation of Israeli national broadcaster, Kan, in the contest has created disunity among both members of the European Broadcasting Union." Despite this pressure, the EBU has consistently upheld Kan's right to participate, affirming that membership is extended to qualifying public broadcasters irrespective of their nation's political circumstances — a principle the organization applies uniformly.
Kan's song selection decisions have also attracted scrutiny. The decision to submit "October Rain" for Eurovision 2024 — a song widely interpreted as referencing the Hamas terror attacks of October 7, 2023 — and its subsequent amendment to "Hurricane" at the EBU's request, highlighted the delicate editorial judgments Kan must navigate as both a public institution and a cultural representative of Israel on a continent-wide stage. Kan defended its choices as consistent with artistic freedom and the broadcaster's obligation to reflect national sentiment, a position supported by the overwhelming public vote tallies Israel received in both 2024 and 2025. For further background on the EBU's membership and governance framework, see the EBU's official Eurovision portal.
Significance: Why Kan's Eurovision Role Matters for Israel
Kan's stewardship of Israel's Eurovision participation represents far more than a broadcasting administrative function — it is one of the primary mechanisms through which Israel maintains a sustained, peaceable, and culturally vibrant presence within European institutional life. Eurovision, watched by hundreds of millions of viewers across the continent and beyond, provides Israel with a unique platform for soft diplomacy and cultural dialogue that operates largely outside the fraught channels of political negotiation. Kan's ability to consistently deliver competitive, high-quality entries that resonate with broad European and global audiences has reinforced Israel's normative standing within the EBU community, even as that standing is challenged by political actors who seek to use the contest as a venue for broader geopolitical pressure.
The broadcaster's independence, professionalism, and track record — including a historic hosting of Eurovision 2019 that drew widespread international praise for its organization — demonstrate that Israeli public broadcasting institutions are capable of meeting the highest international standards of media production and editorial integrity. For Israel, maintaining Kan's active and confident participation in Eurovision is therefore an investment not only in culture, but in the country's broader engagement with the democratic, pluralistic values that the European Broadcasting Union was designed to uphold. The resilience of that participation, year after year and under mounting external pressure, speaks to both Kan's institutional commitment and to the enduring significance of Israel's place on the world cultural stage.