Public broadcasters in Ireland have asked the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to discuss Israel's inclusion in the European singing contest as 72 former contestants asked Israeli broadcaster Kan to ban Israeli broadcaster Kan at an event next week in the city of Basel, Switzerland.

Kevin Bakhurst, director-general of Ireland RTé, said in a statement Wednesday that he was "shocked by the ongoing events in the Middle East and the terror impact on civilians in Gaza and the fate of Israel's hostages".

Buckhurst said that by asking for discussion on Israel's inclusion in Eurovision, he was cautiously "need to maintain the objectivity of RTé in the coverage of the Gaza war" and "severe political pressure" by the Israeli government's Israeli public service broadcaster Kan.

Israel has been the world's largest live music event since 1973, when it became the first participant not geographically in Europe.

There have been calls for the exclusion of Israeli exclusion at an event held in the Swedish city of Malmö last year, while Irish contestant Bambie Thug was asked by EBU to remove Ogham scripts from their faces and legs, spelling "Ceasefire" and "Ceasefire" and "Palleesine For Palleesine".

In this year's competition, held from May 13 to 17, Israel will be represented by 24-year-old singer Yuval Raphael, who survived the Nova Festival near the Gaza border on October 7, 2023. Hamas' attack on Israel killed 1,200 people and led to the ongoing fear attack in Israel, killing 52,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,2002,2002,522,2002,002,002,002,002,000,000,000,000,000,000,2002,002,002,002,000,000,000,000,000,2002,002,002,000,000,000,000,000,2002,002,000,000,000,000,000,2002,002,000,000,000,000,000,2002,002,000,000,000,000,000,2002,002,000,000,000,000,000,000,2002,002,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,

In an open letter to EBU this week, 72 musicians, lyrics and performers of the competition related to the competition accused the broadcaster of “a co-conspiracy in Israel’s genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza and decades of subseed systems and military occupation of the Palestinian people throughout the Palestinian people.”

A document related to the letter cites several incidents allegedly by journalists in Kansas, allegedly endorsing military operations or boasting about the destruction of Gaza, evidence of broadcasters’ accomplices.

Performers say Kan's inclusion will "allow music to be used as a tool to whitewash crimes against humanity" which will be a double standard, as the EBU has banned Russia's invasion of Ukraine since 2022.

Signatories include Salvador Sobral and Fernando Tordo of Portugal and Charlie McGettigan of Ireland, as well as British singer Mae Muller, France's La Zarra, and last year's contender Ekland and Norway's contender Ásdís.

Six European foreign ministers - from Ireland, Iceland, Luxembourg, Norway, Slovenia and Spain - issued a joint statement on Wednesday expressing “serious concern” about the reported Israeli plan to expand its military operations in Gaza and establish a prolonged military operation in the Gaza Strip.

EBU has previously stated that none of its members publicly oppose Kan's participation in Eurovision.

A spokesperson said in a subsequent statement: “We understand the concerns of the current Middle East conflict and hold a deep view. EBU is not affected by global events, but with our members, the core of ensuring that the competition remains is our role, a universal event that can promote diversity, diversity and inclusion through music.

“We all desire to keep the Eurovision song contest active and inclusive and eager to show it to the world, not necessarily.”