Eurovision organizer warns Netanyahu against threatening Israel’s public broadcaster

The European Broadcasting Union, the body responsible for organizing the Eurovision Song Contest, sent a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government over its threats to shut down the Kan public broadcaster, it said on Tuesday.

EBU director general Noel Curran sent a letter to Netanyahu warning against such a move, and stating that “we trust the new government will also safeguard the independence of Kan and enable it to continue to fulfill its mission in democratic society.”

Curran cited November comments by Likud MK Shlomo Karhi, who has since become communications minister, calling for an end to public broadcasting in Israel as being of particular concern.

“Independent news and information form an integral component of public service media organizations and make a key contribution to media pluralism in well-functioning democracies,” Curran wrote in the letter to Netanyahu.

“The EBU’s responsibility is to ensure that it supports all our Members in their mission to serve the interests of the general public in the best possible manner. These developments risk undermining Kan’s capability to meet its commitments as a member of our international alliance of public service media organizations,” he added. The Times of Israel