ISRAEL – First it was Jerusalem, now it’s Haifa, the Mayor of which seems to have sent a letter to KAN saying that he wishes the best to the organisation of the event but the city will not bid for hosting.
The decision reached on July 8th in a Municipality meting with the Israeli national broadcaster. KAN send an email back to Haifa’s Mayor that after the due dat (July 18th) they didn’t receive any data for potential hosting off the event assuming you are not interested.
Originally Haifa cosidered Sammy Ofer closed stadium to host the event.
Earlier this month, Yona Yahav, mayor of Haifa, told Walla! Real Estate: “There is no doubt that Haifa – the City of Peace – is not suitable for hosting the Eurovision Song Contest, which will bring great honor to the city and contribute to the development of the economy and tourism. The Sammy Ofer stadium was built according to the highest standards in the world, using the highest technologies and is now in line with the world’s leading stadiums.”
In a conversation with Mayor Yahav, Israeli newspaper Walla.co.il presets a true miscommunication between the Municipality and KAN. The Mayor was not aware of the KAN letter and asked to be approached by the journalists tomorrow.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. We did not receive any letter from the corporation, today is freedom in the municipality, call me tomorrow, I’ll find out. Haifa really did not retire. Forget it, I can not talk to you now, I’m in the middle of a meeting, you’ll turn in an orderly way and I’ll answer you.” (Disconnected).
IN THE MEANTIME
Jerusalem: although bidding it seems it will not accept the – against religion – timetable of the contest and the political issues might bring the city totally against the odds and no one really believes it will win the bidding race.
Tel Aviv: is the favourite to host the event with Pavilion2 officially candidate to bee the venue of the event leaving Bloomfield Stadium and Menorah Mivtachim Hall out of the picture. Tel Aviv is highly investing I tourism and LGBT community and would love some payback for it. Plus, they agreed on Saturday rehearsals.
Eilat: although still in the bidding race, their proposal for a temporary built of venue (originally) and now offering the Ice Mall to host the event and delegations accommodation on ships in the Red Sea doesn’t seem appealing. Not to mention they ar too far away from an international airport although the landscape could have been. exotic and ideal.
