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Citing the rules of the Eurovision Song Contest, Israel decided not to divide its national broadcaster Kan. The Israeli parliament on Tuesday approved a bill to cancel plans to turn Kan's information division into an independent entity.
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In May, Israeli singer Netta Barzilai won the Eurovision Song Contest with her song "Toy". The annual competition is normally organized by the country that won the previous year. However, the bill quoted letters from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) stating that the split could cancel Kan's membership in the EBU, which would mean event could not take place in Israel in 2019.
Netta Barzilai winning the Eurovision 2018 contest. Photo: Reuters
The bill has pbaded its first reading without opposition with 54 votes, and has yet to pbad a third reading to become law.
Kan's split request originates from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when the broadcaster started operating last year following a reform that saw it reincorporated. Netanyahu is currently the subject of two separate investigations regarding alleged attempts to influence two important local media in exchange for regulatory favors.
One of these investigations concerns negotiations between Netanyahu and Arnon Mozes, the editor of the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth, aimed at weakening a competing newspaper in exchange for favorable coverage in the newspaper and on the site of Yedioth Ynet information. Calcalist is part of the Yedioth Ahronoth media group.
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