Israel is stepping up its risk management measures at Eurovision 2025. The move follows a Knesset Committee meeting on Wednesday, May 15th, assessing the situation facing Israeli Eurovision Song Contest participants and fans in Basel, Switzerland.
In the run-up to Saturday’s final, protesters have targeted the Israeli entrant and her delegation. Israel’s Foreign Ministry, National Security Council and Diaspora Affairs Ministry are now coordinating a response that can protect their citizens in the Swiss host city (which is itself divided over whether to support the competition).
For the Israeli authorities, last year’s Amsterdam pogrom provides the model of what to prepare for. Travelers are being obliged to install the IDF Home Front Command’s emergency alert app on mobile phones. This will allow them to receive real-time alerts of threats—or warnings of areas to avoid.
Gilad Kariv of the Knesset Committee on Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs stated:
Anti-Israeli activity poses a risk to Israeli supporters and fans in Basel. We requested that the Foreign Ministry’s situation room be fully staffed, with social media monitoring and real-time tracking of planned protests.
As Israel gears up to protect its citizens at a music competition, its representative Yuval Raphael is in the invidious position of being a Nova festival massacre survivor who is still under threat at a supposedly inclusive event in a European city.
