It looks like the ongoing saga over who will pay the security deposit for Eurovision 2019 is coming to an end. Israeli press is reporting that broadcaster KAN and the Israeli government have finally reached an agreement on how the EBU security deposit will be covered.
Haaretz news sources report that the €12 million security deposit will be paid to the EBU by the host broadcaster, KAN, who will take out a bank loan to cover it.
If the song contest goes ahead with no major disruptions, the deposit will be refunded to the broadcaster and the loan will be repaid. However, if something does happen to disrupt the contest, the EBU may keep some or all of the deposit to cover the cost of hosting Eurovision in a new location — a loss that KAN can’t sustain.
This is where the Israeli government is said to be stepping in. Haaretz reports that if the contest doesn’t go ahead due to situations such as war, an earthquake or political pressure from the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, the Israeli Treasury will step in and ensure KAN’s loan is repaid.
However, this agreement has not been publicly confirmed by either party and KAN is not currently commenting on the matter.
The agreement follows weeks of back and forth between the two parties. Since July, KAN has been mulling over the issue of how to cover the cost of the security deposit. The broadcaster has repeatedly said they could not simply take it out their overall budget and instead wanted the Israeli government to cover costs.
The government refused to lend a hand, saying the broadcaster should take it out of their budget. The situation also follows previous tensions between KAN and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Whatever decision is reached, it will need to be made today. The European Broadcasting Union previously extended its deadline to give KAN more time to reach an agreement. But the deadline has been reached and KAN must provide the security deposit to the EBU today or risk forfeiting the right to host Eurovision 2019.
Sad that the hype is finished. Now what will be their next move so that all eyes will be on this country again while the contest hasn’t started yet?
About DAMN TIME!
In 2017 Israel stated they would not be participating in Eurovision again – now this! Think they like playing games…
That was your misunderstanding of the statement that was made in 2017 during the show. It was said the IBA stops broadcasting forever. It was never said that Israel stops participating Eurovision. In fact, KAN, who replaced the IBA, were openly intending to become members of the EBU even before they started broadcasting.
Michèle can be forgiven for getting that impression, though. The spokesperson (what’s his name again?) was very dramatic, and certainly made it seem that they would never be back. If only we knew then that only one year later they would be victorious!
Yes, did misunderstand it at the time and thanks for clearing it up Ana. Still think there was a bit of drama about the staging for 2019 which I believed all along would be resolved, but I could be wrong!
I misunderstood too. As Jonas mentions it didn’t help that the spokesperson held a very dramatic passionate fire speech, as if both he and Israel were slowly dying. Like he said “maybe we will be back” and “this is our final votes” and stuff like that.
But it looks like some Israelis just likes drama:)
I knew it would all be resolved and that it was all drama. Then, the government swoops in to save the day.
Well, they did not exactly swoop in. KAN is taking the loan after all. The government only agreed to back them up in unexpected case of crisis.
Hmm such a shame… i hoped the context would be going to Austria or Germany, Israël doesnt deserve to host after all the drama
Every year theres in a diffrent drama. Israel deserves to win like usual.
Well drama is a part of life. Israel deserves to host just like any other past hosts. I think you’re a bit too sensitive
If I was religious, I’d think this is payback for having had a non-political, music-focused, well-organized Eurovision this year.
Let’s hope Nadav will finally show us Tel-Aviv next year 🙂
It would make a great filler video between re-caps! Better than some of the other stuff we’ve been offered in the past for sure.
Happy this all worked out but damn….. I’m tired of having mini heart attack after mini heart attack over this drama. Hopefully this is the last of this.
No more drama, please. But I am sure there will be…
It’s approved – KAN will pay the money 🙂
They have just announced that
Sounds like it all worked out. And given the development with Tel Aviv, I think there’s a solid chance they’ll host! So let’s get the show on the road.
Excellent news 🙂
there’s no good venue tho :/
Check Wikipedia, the Eurovision 2019 page has the possible venues there
there all crap tho
Not every country is Russia or Germany, we can’t expect a large venue every year!
All the haters and the ones who feed may rest now.
It’s a shame you just wasted your energy for free.
Can all the cyprus 2019 rumors plz be quite now??? Israel is most likely creating this drama in purpose in order to draw more attention to the show… and as i said like Elina’s dress Solved last minute XD
i dont see the point of asking for a loan with an annual budget of 177 million euros… but well, thanks to that now the KAN has to be really commited with eurovision, which are good news. If they are not and EBU decide to celebrate the contest in other place, they may lose 12 million euros, and some heads will be cut off.
By law, KAN are not allowed to enter deficit under any circumstances. Also, their budget is quite strict in the sense that various parts of it are allocated to specific purposes (also, by law) and cannot be transferred to other purposes.
That’s why the loan is needed, as well as the government’s back-up.
KAN’s budget for 2019 might looks high but most of it was likely alredy spent by now since KAN have plans for productions for the upcoming year so they can’t cancel contracts they have alredy signed for those productions for 2019.
They shouldn’t have to anyway, it’s terrible that the contest should take such a huge financial toll on small broadcasters. This has been a problem for a while. The EBU insists on huge-scale productions, and I’ve wondered if the three nights television are really worth the giant fee at the taxpayers expense. For KAN to then ditch the rest of their annual programming would be far too much to ask.