The World Zionist Organization criticized the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation this week because the eight songs under consideration as Israel's entry for the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest are largely in English.
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"Unfortunately, in recent year, the State of Israel was represented with songs in the English language, and this year the matter is especially obvious as not a single song being considered for the competition is fully in Hebrew," Ifat Ovadia Luski, head of the WZO's Department of Hebrew Language and Culture wrote in a letter to Eldad Koblenz, CEO of the broadcasting corporation.
She called on Koblenz to join the WZO in "preserving our language and giving it a place of honor in the world," and to "make a Zionist decision because the Hebrew language is the only one that will represent Israel on the Eurovision stage."
The Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation said in a statement that a professional committee selected the songs it deemed would best represent Israel at the event.
The songwriters have the choice to write in any language they please, the statement said, stressing that the selection of the songs was conducted "in accordance with European Broadcasting Union procedures."
"We thank the World Zionist Organization for bringing this matter to our attention, and we will consider it next year," the organization said.
The Eurovision Song Contest 2022 will take place in May in Turin, Italy, following the country's victory at last year's contest with the song "Zitti e buoni" by rock band Måneskin.
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