The Dutch Eurovision Song Contest has suspended rehearsals due to an “incident” after a clash with Israel’s entry

With the new song “Europapa”, a tribute to his late parents, the 26-year-old Dutch rapper and singer qualified for the grand final on Thursday evening in the Malmö Arena in Sweden.

He was briefly seen rehearsing during the flag parade on Friday before missing the performance of his track.

A statement from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) said: “We are currently investigating an incident reported to us involving the Dutch artist.” He will not rehearse until further notice.

“We have no further comment at this time and will update in due course.”

Joost Klein, Dutch Eurovision entrant, asks: “Why not?” When Israel was told it could refuse to answer the question about the threat to other entries

During a press conference on Thursday, Klein told Israeli actor Eden Golan to answer a question about whether her participation was endangering the safety of other participants in the Eurovision Song Contest.

A journalist had asked Golan: “Have you ever thought that by staying here you are posing risks and dangers to other participants and the public?”

When Golan was told by the moderator that she didn’t have to answer the question, Klein intervened and said, “Why not?”

Golan said: “I think we are all here for one reason and one reason only and the EBU (European Broadcasting Union) is taking all the safety precautions to make this a safe and united place for everyone and that is why I think “That it’s safe for everyone and we wouldn’t be here (if not).”

When Klein was previously asked if his song could unite people through music, he replied: “I think that’s a good question for the EBU.”

Local media reported that he faced censure after another incident on Thursday.

During Thursday’s semifinal, Golan was applauded and cheered by the audience as he sang “Hurricane,” a rewrite of an early song, “October Rain,” which was believed to have made strong references to Hamas’ attacks on Israel in October.

Israel has faced calls to boycott the Eurovision Song Contest after launching its offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Dutch broadcaster Avrotros and Swedish broadcaster SVT, which organize the competition, have been contacted for comment.

Meanwhile, Israel has emerged as one of the favorites among bookmakers to win this year’s Eurovision Song Contest after Eden Golan reached the semi-finals on Thursday despite boos during her performance and protests outside the venue in Sweden.

Israel climbed from ninth to second favorite after the semifinals, according to Eurovision World, a website that compiles betting odds from 15 of Europe’s biggest bookmarks. It said Israel was given a 22 percent chance of winning, behind only Croatia’s Baby Lasagna, who had a 41 percent chance.

More than 10,000 people gathered in the host city of Malmo in southern Sweden on Thursday to protest non-violently against Israel’s participation in the competition. Further protests are planned for Saturday before the final.

Eurovision expert Paul Jordan said it was much easier to vote for a country than against, as people who might want to see Israel do poorly would spread their votes across many different countries.

“I think if people don’t like Israel, they can vote for other countries, but those who really want Israel to do well, whether because of the song or the country, then they will vote for Israel,” he said .

Italian public television RAI incorrectly published figures on Thursday showing Golan winning maximum points from Italy in the semifinals, receiving over 39 percent of the vote. The number of votes or the share of votes of the individual candidates in the semi-finals are not public.

RAI apologized on Friday for the error and also noted that the published data was incomplete.

In a web poll by Swedish daily Aftonbladet before the Golan was cleared for the final, Israel received 40 percent of the vote, well ahead of the second-place Netherlands with 8 percent.

Viewers will decide the results of the two semi-finals and can vote up to 20 times, either by phone, SMS or via a Eurovision app.

In the final, audience votes will only make up half of the result, while juries of five music professionals in each participating country will make up the other half.

Jordan, who expects Israel to do well in the final but not win, said “Hurricane” – a powerful ballad describing a person experiencing a storm of emotions – would be well received by the judges.

“They tend to vote for more serious things, they tend to vote for the artists who have the best voices,” he said.

Swedish police said Israel, which could win the contest, would not change its security plans and that there were no signs there would be public unrest on Saturday.