The organizers of Eurovision called the dates and venue of the competition in Israel, ignoring the calls to the boycott

Despite the protest letter signed by many representatives of world culture with a request not to hold Eurovision 2019 in Israel, the organizers of the song competition did not deprive the country of the right to accept artists. The city in which Eurovision will be held will be Tel Aviv.

"The 64th Song Contest will be held at the Tel Aviv Center for Fair in Israel on Tuesday. 14th, Thursday, 16th and Saturday, May 18," the information message said on the organizers on September 13.

The Israeli State Broadcasting Corporation ("KA KA") and the European Broadcasting Union (EUS) considered three cities - Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Eilat, reportsNewsru Israel . The option with Eilat was discarded, since in this city it would be necessary to build a special new complex - expensive and problematic from a technical point of view.

The competition in Jerusalem was fraught with protests from the ultra -religious community, since some work would be carried out on Saturday. Therefore, although the Minister of Culture and Sports of Israel Miri Reghev demanded that the competition be held in the capital, experts choose Tel Aviv. In addition, the mayor of the city, Ron Khuldai, promised to provide Kan for free for holding the Pavilion 1 and 2 competition in the Tel Aviv Exhibition Center "Ganya Taarukha" for a period of three months.

Israel received the right to accept the song contest thanks to the victory of Netta Barzilai at Eurovision 2018 with the song "Toy".

It should be noted that on September 8, more than 140 representatives of the field of culture and art from Europe, Australia and Canada asked the organizers of the song competition not to hold it in 2019 in Israel, since this country for decades seriously violates the rights of the Palestinants.

The message noted that on May 14, a few days after the victory of Israel at Eurovision, the Israeli army killed 62 unarmed Palestinian protesters in the gas sector, including six children, hundreds of people were injured.

The UN Human Rights Council on May 18 adopted a resolution calling for an immediate conduct of an independent investigation on the fact of "killing peaceful demonstrators" in the Gaza sector.

Holding a song contest in Israel was threatened by a breakdown, not only because of protests against it. In August, the Kan television and radio corporation, which estimated the expenses of Eurovision in 2019 at 157 million shekels (almost $ 43 million), demanded more than $ 28 million from the Israeli state budget. So much money, according to the company's calculations, was the difference between expenses for the competition and income from it.

The Ministry of Finance of Israel did not want to not only cover these expenses, but also allocate 12 million euros as a warranty contribution to the European Broadcasting Union, since if the competition still does not take place, this money will not be returned to Israel. However, on August 14, the department and Kan agreed to pay the contribution.

In addition, in early July, the largest American music company Universal Music accused Neta Barzilai of copyright violations, and the singer was in the threat of desecting.

In Israel, the Eurovision Song Contest was held twice: in 1979 - after the victory of Yitzhara Cohen and Alphabeta, in 1999 - after the victory, the Internet. Both times the competition was arranged in Jerusalem.