Israeli-Turkish singer Linet Menashe said that she wishes to represent Israel for the Eurovision Song Contest, despite controversies that the singer had performed at an anti-Zionist conference, Ynet reported on Monday.
Solely using her first name as her official stage name, Linet, 46, is a contestant on season 4 of X Factor Israel, a reality TV singing competition that will pick the Israeli representative to the Eurovision Song Contest, Ynet news reported back in April.
Linet received harsh criticism from Israeli audiences as a result of this information.
The next Eurovision Song Contest is set to be held in Italy in 2022.
Linet appeared at an anti-Israel conference in Turkey approximately 11 years ago. While she was born and native to Israel, she has Turkish roots, living in the country for many years and developed her musical career there.
Linet took the stage in front of an audience of thousands in Turkey, most of whom waved flags of the Palestinian National Authority, according to video documentation shared on Ynet.
When she was younger, Linet was considered a prodigy in singing clubs in the 1980s. She also participated in the Kdam Eurovision for a chance to represent Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 1993 - but placed third. Kdam was Israel's way of preselecting their representative to Eurovision.