Israel won the Eurovision Song Contest 2018, and therefore hosted the 2019 edition in Tel Aviv. However, the EBU warned that the pending plan to make the IPBC's news department a separate broadcaster (leaving the IPBC responsible for entertainment programming only) conflicted with rules requiring member broadcasters to handle both news and entertainment programming. On 18 June 2018, as a high-court decision on the split approached, Netanyahu said that the Israeli government would comply with EBU rules to protect its hosting of the Eurovision Song Contest. On 7 December 2018, the EBU General Assembly voted unanimously to approve the IPBC's membership application.