A proposal to split the Israeli public broadcaster Kan is threatening Israel’s hopes for holding the Eurovision Song Contest next year.

The European Broadcasting Union said Israel’s membership in the competition could be withdrawn if plans to divide the organisation into separate news and entertainment divisions are carried through.

“We are not aware of any ... organization that operates the news in a totally separate entity with a separate governance,” the EBU said in its letter sent to Kan’s chairman last Friday, which was obtained by Haaretz.

The letter added that if the proposed law was ratified, the request for Israeli membership would be re-examined by a regulatory body that ensures the broadcaster can uphold the EBU’s core values.

Revoking Kan’s interim membership of the EBU would mean the broadcaster cannot host the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest, having won the right to do so following Netta Barzilai’s victory last month.

The EBU is also reported to be concerned about comments by Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev expressing a desire to control the content that will be televised in the sections between the songs during next year’s contest.

Such segments, which ordinarily include promotional material about Israel, are normally decided by the host broadcaster.