“I’m sorry if my words were misunderstood. While I criticize the Israeli government, I condemn all forms of violence against civilians, whether Israeli or Palestinian. I will not comment further on this matter,” he wrote on social media.
Austria’s public broadcaster ORF, which oversees the country’s Eurovision participation, also issued a response: “J.J.’s statements reflect his personal opinion and are not connected to ORF.” The statement added: “For ORF, music and artistic performances are at the heart of Eurovision.”
on Tuesday, J.J. had given an interview to the Spanish outlet El País, where he sharply criticized Israel’s participation and called for its suspension from the contest. “I hope next year’s competition is held in Vienna—without Israel,” he said. “But the ball is in the court of the European Broadcasting Union. We artists can only raise our voices on the matter. It’s very disappointing that Israel is still competing.”
During this year’s Eurovision event, members of the Israeli delegation told Ynet that the Austrian team was the only delegation that appeared to ignore them. “They weren’t openly dismissive like last year,” said a source in the Israeli delegation, “but they avoided eye contact. It was very noticeable.”
J.J. also joined the chorus of critics questioning the voting system, following the surprising second-place finish of Israel’s representative, Yuval Raphael, which was largely thanks to the public vote. “There needs to be a change in the voting system. There should be more transparency in the public voting process. This year, the whole thing felt very strange,” he said.
On Thursday morning, the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation issued a response to the speculation and criticism surrounding the voting that brought Golan close to winning.
“We are very proud of Yuval Raphael’s achievement and of the Israeli song, New Day Will Rise, at the Eurovision contest in Switzerland,” the statement read. “The song earned a respectable second-place finish, with the Israeli delegation, the artist’s team, and the Israeli broadcasting corporation all adhering to the competition’s rules and conducting themselves respectfully and collegially toward the other delegations and artists. Any suggestion otherwise is unfounded, uncollegial, and simply not supported by the facts.
“The European audience loves Yuval and the Israeli song, and is focused solely on the music. The Israeli delegation warmly congratulates Austria on its first-place win.”
