The Irish national broadcaster RTé has asked the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to discuss Israel's inclusion in the European Singing Competition.

Its director-general, Kevin Bakhurst, said he was "shocked by the ongoing events in the Middle East and the terrible impact on Gaza civilians and the fate of Israel's hostages".

Earlier, the director of the Eurovision Song Contest said that no members of the EBU publicly opposed the participation of Israeli broadcaster Kan.

The EBU-hosted competition will be held in Switzerland on May 13 and the final will begin on May 17.

Mr. Buckhurst said RTé wanted to discuss “though the criteria for participation is EBU membership.

He added that he paid attention to the obligation to maintain objectivity in the coverage of the Gaza war.

"We are also very careful about the serious political pressure from the Israeli government on the Israeli public service broadcaster Kan," he said.

More than 70 former European TV entrants, including Ireland's 1994 champion Charlie McGettigan, signed a letter on Tuesday urging organizers to reject Israel and Cannon.

Members of the RTé National Union of Journalists (NUJ) also called on broadcasters to oppose Israel's participation in a letter.

NUJ's Emma O'Kelly said in a speech to BBC Radio Ulster's nighttime extra program on Wednesday that she welcomed Mr Bakhurt's statement and it was important to stand.

"We think it's listening to their staff, but more importantly, listening to the public here in Ireland, it's just anger at Israel's actions in Gaza," she said.

“We collectively – NUJ and RTé – do not believe that Israel deserves a huge cultural platform.”

“European TV is actually an international stage,” she added.

“We don’t think EBU should give a platform like this.”

Ms O'Kelly said the move was "only about Israel's actions in Gaza", adding that there was "precedent" on the grounds that Russia could not compete in the 2022 match after its invasion of Ukraine.

"None of the EBU member broadcasters who have participated in extensive consultations," Eurovision Director Martin Green said in a statement. "There are no EBU members who have participated in the extensive consultations, who "openly objected" to the Israeli broadcaster Kan in the Eurovision Song competition - despite claims from another letter from RTé News reporters.

"The broadcasters mentioned in this letter requested discussions from the Spanish RTVE and Slovenian RTVSLO, and Iceland's Rúv informed us of the Foreign Minister's comments on Kan's participation."

Mr Green said the organizers of the song contest “understand the concerns of the current Middle East conflict and hold a deep view.”

He said EBU is not “unaffected by global events”, but members have worked together to ensure that the event remains “a universal event that promotes music’s connection, diversity and inclusion through music.”

On October 7, 2023, Yuval Raphael, a survivor of the Israeli attack on Israel led by Hamas, will represent Israel, with about 1,200 people killed and another 251 people taken hostage.

She attended the Nova Music Festival when Hamas attacked and killed 360 young partygoers and took 40 more hostages.

According to the Hamas-Operation Ministry of Operations in the region, at least 52,615 people have been killed in Gaza since the recovery of the Israeli offensive, of which 2,507 have been killed.

Last year, several events could prevent Israel from participating in the EBU song contest, but the EBU ruled Israel was allowed to participate.

Last year, Eden Golan, a representative representing Israel, performed in the rehearsal of the competition, which was held in Malmo, Sweden, and she did not participate in her hotel room when she was not in the competition due to the injury to the Israeli delegation.

She ranked fifth in the race against entering the Hurricane.

This year's Eurovision Song Contest will be held on Saturday, May 17 in St. Jacob Schal, in Basel, Switzerland.

The semi-finals will be held on Tuesday and Thursday, May 13.

Thirty-seven countries will participate, and each semi-final won 10 games.

Five countries - Britain, Spain, Germany, France and Italy are the places for the finals, and so are the hosts of Switzerland.