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She performed in the occupied Crimea, lived in Russia: who is Eden Golan, who will represent Israel at the Eurovision Song Contest, and what connects her to Ukraine
Eden Golan will represent Israel at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024
Israeli native Eden Golan, who has Ukrainian roots on her mother's side but has lived in Moscow almost all her life, was chosen to represent the country at the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest at the Israeli National Selection. The singer has a rather dubious biography, which may affect her perception by Ukrainians.
For example, the fact that an Israeli singer with Ukrainian roots ignores the wars in both countries on her popular Instagram page will only please pro-Palestinian listeners. OBOZ.UA decided to learn more about Eden.
According to open sources, Golan was born in Kfar Sava, Israel, in 2003, but spent her childhood in Moscow, where her family moved because of her father's work as a Latvian Jew. The singer's mother, Olha, is of Ukrainian descent.
The artist lived in Russia for 13 years until she returned home in 2022. Her profile has one photo from Moscow from two years ago.
Golan's grandfather, Yuriy, once graduated from the Faculty of Journalism at Moscow State University and worked for the newspaper Sovetskaya Molodezh. The man has an openly pro-Ukrainian stance, which can be inferred from a cursory glance at his Facebook page. His wall features a Ukrainian flag, ridicule of pseudo-referendums, "import substitution" and Putin, and warm words about his granddaughter's success.
Returning to the singer's life in Russia, it is worth mentioning that she described these years in two ways. Although it was in Russia that Eden gained fame by participating in The Voice and the National Junior Eurovision Song Contest, Russians never recognized the Israeli native as "their own."
According to Golan, she felt uncomfortable because of the frequent manifestations of anti-Semitism. For example, her Russian friends did not want to call her Eden, so they called her Natasha.
By the way, in 2016, the artist performed at the New Wave contest in the occupied Crimea in a duet with singer Niusha.
