Image: Screen capture Channel 12 Israel’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) 2024 continues to generate polemics, with one of the proposed songs now at the center of the controversy. Eden Golan will be the performer, following her victory in HaKokhav HaBa.
According to Israel Hayom, the allegedly chosen song, October Rain, refers to the attacks carried out by Hamas in Israel on October 7, 2023, resulting in over a thousand casualties. Since then, the attacked country has engaged in a violent war in the Gaza Strip, resulting in thousands of deaths and civilian refugees.
The lyrics are mostly in English, but have two verses in Hebrew. However, there are two issues. Firstly, there are doubts about its eligibility due to the political nature of the title. In the past, other songs have been «barred» by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) for this reason, such as Georgia’s I Don’t Want to Put In in 2009 or Belarus’ proposal in 2021.
But even if the EBU accepts October Rain, there is another obstacle: the song was written by Avi Ohayon and Keren Peles, with Stav Beger joining after the song was written. It turns out that Stav Beger wants to be credited as one of the producers, while Avi Ohayon wants to give him lesser credit, resulting in lower royalties. If no agreement is reached, Avi Ohayon has threatened to withdraw the song.
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