So secure is the Eurovision song contest in Tel Aviv

”We continue to work together with the CAN (the israeli public service company) and Hemmafrontskommandot (Israel's civil defence) in order to ensure the well-being of those who work and visit us at the Expo Tel Aviv”, says Jon Ola Sand, the EBU director of the Eurovision Song Contest, in a written statement to the TT.

the Violence, and gained new momentum last weekend with hundreds of firing rockets from Gaza, followed by the answer attack with armour and fighter jets from the Israeli side. In total, tens of people lost their life, and inside Israel have flyglarm been heard in a number of cities.

from the isolated Gaza strip are arranged at the same time, this year's edition of Eurovision in Tel Aviv. Thousands of visitors are expected, and some are asking how safe how this year's edition of the Eurovisiontävlingen really gets.

"I think that the israeli government has made this assessment from the beginning, and accepted after a comprehensive security analysis has been made where the security services and military have been involved," says Mellanösternkännaren and professor Isabell Schierenbeck at the Department of global studies at Gothenburg university.

the Races will start next week, but the Swedish team with John Lundvik in the tip is already in place in Tel Aviv – as well as a part of Swedish fans. 70 fans from the Swedish Melodifestivalklubben is expected to appear and one of them, Peter Baston from Malmö, have already arrived to follow the rehearsals.

all that at a ”normal " Eurovision”. No elevated security measures around the arena Expo or presscentrat visible.

– No, it shows nothing in particular. Surrounding the stadium is there, as in a normal arrangement. The tense situation in the southern part of the country we notice nothing of the, he says to TT.

Sweden's head of delegation Karin Gunnarsson, who arrived with the Swedish tävlingsteamet last Sunday, would not comment on the security at the event.

" I don't want to speculate so much about security. We have continuous communication with the host organisation – it is the EBU, which informs us. We are well informed and rely on it, she said last Monday.

a month ago was the issue of security on the wallpaper. The EBU (European Broadcasting Union) turned directly to the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu because of the then lack of funding of security, something that, among others, The Jerusalem Post has reported.

Now run everything related to the Eurovision on as it should, according to the EBU manager, who adds that the EBU always included an agreement with the relevant authorities in the host country to ensure security.

”safety and Security is always of the utmost importance to the EBU, and we are working closely with delegations and visitors to ensure that they are safe and fully informed,” writes Jon Ola Sand to the TT.

there is a ceasefire agreement with Israel, according to palestinian representatives. Whether the calm lasts is impossible to say.

Isabell Schierenbeck can't comment on if it is safe to visit Tel Aviv during the Eurovision – but she points out that even if the rockets certainly have reached Tel Aviv a few times through the years, it is mainly sites in Israel further south and closer to the Gaza strip hit. While it is not much more than 50 kilometres from the border to Tel Aviv, but the palestinian rockets are pretty simple constructions that do not reach far.

the Relationship between the government on the Gaza strip and the israeli government is characterized by periods of truce and escalated conflict. So it has been in years, and the people living in Israel all the time under these conditions.