No exclusion of Israel

Middle East peace also saves Song Contest in Vienna

So now Israel can take part in the ESC after all.(Bild: APA/Helmut Fohringer)

The historic Gaza agreement with the release of all hostages still alive today (Monday) also allows ORF to breathe a sigh of relief: because "due to current developments in the Middle East", the planned secret vote on the exclusion of Israel from next year's Song Contest in Vienna's Stadthalle is off the table for the time being! Austria had previously declared that it would not take on the role of host if Israel was not allowed to take part.

The pressure from threats of participation and broadcast boycotts from sponsors and countries such as Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Iceland and the British TV station BBC was great. These five countries even enforced a secret ballot of the members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Deadline: November 15. Due to the anonymity of the votes, a majority in favor of exclusion was considered de facto certain.

Vienna feared for revenue, ORF trembled before a fine of millions
While the City of Vienna and ORF wanted to hold the world's largest music festival in any case, there were voices within the ÖVP and in politics that advocated a cancellation due to the heavily burdened historical legacy.

Just last week, ÖVP Chairman and Federal Chancellor Christian Stocker and State Secretary Alexander Pröll announced that the ORF would not host the Eurovision Song Contest if there was a boycott of Israel's participation.

In the event of a boycott, the runner-up from this year's final in Switzerland would actually have been chosen: Israel. In addition, the Küniglberg was trembling at the consequences of a high contractual penalty of up to 40 million euros. Not to mention the loss of tourism and economic revenue for the city.

Now the big sigh of relief from those responsible! The vote on the participation of an Israeli artist is off the table after an extraordinary supervisory board meeting on Monday morning! And the Song Contest in the Wiener Stadthalle has been saved.

The background to this is the release of 20 live hostages by the terrorist organization Hamas after 738 days in hell as the first phase of the historic peace agreement. This easing of tensions also has consequences for the ESC.

Director General Weißmann "delighted"
ORF Director General Roland Weißmann was "delighted" after the decision. The Director General had vehemently defended Israel's participation until the very end. In complete contrast to JJ, who caused a major scandal last May with a demand for exclusion.

Months of debate and protests
Israel's participation in the next Eurovision Song Contest in Austria was controversial for months. This led to protests within the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and several special meetings of the member broadcasters. Now Israel can breathe a sigh of relief for the time being - the next EBU meeting is not scheduled until December.