Four
countries to boycott Eurovision 2026 as Israel cleared to compete
Ireland,
Spain, Slovenia and the Netherlands pull out after decision not to hold vote on
Israel’s participation
Philip
Oltermann and Lisa O’Carroll
Fri 5 Dec
2025 00.20 CET
Ireland,
Spain, Slovenia and the Netherlands will boycott next year’s Eurovision after
Israel was given the all-clear to compete in the 2026 song contest despite
calls by several participating broadcasters for its exclusion over the war in
Gaza.
No vote
on Israel’s participation was held on Thursday at the general assembly of the
European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the body that organises the competition.
Instead,
participating broadcasters voted only to introduce new rules designed to stop
governments and third parties from disproportionately promoting songs to
influence voters.
“A large
majority of members agreed that there was no need for a further vote on
participation and that the Eurovision song contest 2026 should proceed as
planned, with the additional safeguards in place,” the EBU said in a statement.
In
response, the Irish broadcaster RTÉ said it would not participate in the 2026
contest or broadcast the competition. “RTÉ feels that Ireland’s participation
remains unconscionable given the appalling loss of lives in Gaza and the
humanitarian crisis there, which continues to put the lives of so many
civilians at risk,” the broadcaster said in a statement.
The
Spanish broadcaster RTVE also said it would not broadcast the contest or the
semi-finals in Vienna next year, describing the process of decision-making as
“insufficient” and engendering “distrust”.
The BBC
indicated it would broadcast next year’s competition, saying: “We support the
collective decision made by members of the EBU. This is about enforcing the
rules of the EBU and being inclusive,” it said. The German broadcaster SWR
confirmed it would participate.
The
Spanish national broadcaster, along with seven other countries, had formally
requested a secret ballot at a summit of broadcasters in Geneva on Thursday.
“The EBU
presidency has denied RTVE’s request for a specific vote on Israel’s
participation. This decision increases RTVE’s distrust of the festival’s
organisation and confirms the political pressure surrounding it,” it said in a
statement.
Delegates
leave the headquarters of the European Broadcasting Union after the first day
of a two-day general assembly on Thursday. Photograph: Fabrice
Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images
Spain’s
culture minister, Ernest Urtasun, backed the boycott. He said: “You can’t
whitewash Israel given the genocide in Gaza. Culture should be on the side of
peace and justice. I’m proud of an RTVE that puts human rights before any
economic interest.”
In a
statement released on Thursday afternoon, the Dutch broadcaster Avrotros said
it would also withdraw from next year’s contest. “After weighing all
perspectives, Avrotros concludes that, under the current circumstances,
participation cannot be reconciled with the public values that are fundamental
to our organisation.”
The
Slovenian national broadcaster, RTVSLO – the first to threaten a boycott this
summer – said participation “would conflict with its values of peace, equality
and respect”.
At the
meeting on Thursday, EBU members discussed new rules designed to stop
governments and third parties from promoting songs to influence voters.
Some
countries had raised concerns over undue promotion methods after Israel topped
the public vote at the contest in May, finishing second overall after the jury
votes were taken into consideration.
The
proposed rule changes were seen as an olive branch to broadcasters critical of
Israel, but appear to have been deemed insufficient to most of the nations who
had signalled their willingness to boycott the event.
Sixty-five
per cent of delegates voted in favour of the changes to the song contest and no
further discussion on participation of Israel, while 23% voted against and 10%
abstained.
Those in
favour of the changes included broadcasters from Norway, Sweden, Finland,
Denmark and Iceland, who all said they would continue to support the song
contest.
In a
joint statement, they said they “supported” the EBU’s decision to “address
critical shortcomings” in the voting system, but believed it was “important
that we maintain an ongoing dialogue about how we safeguard the credibility of
the EBU and the Eurovision song contest moving forward”.
Iceland’s
RÚV, which threatened a boycott earlier this year, said it would consider its
position at a board meeting next Wednesday.
Israel’s
president, Isaac Herzog, welcomed the decision on his country’s participation,
saying Israel “deserves to be represented on every stage around the world”.
“I am
pleased that Israel will once again participate in the Eurovision song contest,
and I hope that the competition will remain one that champions culture, music,
friendship between nations, and cross-border cultural understanding,” he wrote
on X.
The 2026
edition of the world’s largest live music event, the 70th in its history, will
be held in Vienna, after this year’s win for the Austrian singer JJ.
In
Germany, leading politicians had proposed that SWR withdraw in solidarity if
Israel were to be excluded. ORF, the Austrian host broadcaster, had also said
it wanted Israel to compete.
SWR said
before the meeting that Israel was entitled to compete in the contest. It said
the contest, for decades, was “a competition organised by EBU broadcasters, not
by governments” and “the Israeli broadcaster Kan meets all the requirements
associated with participation” for 2026.
Russia
was banned from Eurovision after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Israel, which has won the contest four times since its debut in 1973, has
competed for the past two years despite disputes over its participation.
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