Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands and Slovenia\u2019s public broadcasters said they will boycott this year\u2019s Eurovision Song Contest after a Thursday meeting of the European Broadcasting Union confirmed Israel\u2019s participation.<\/p>\n
The Thursday General Assembly meeting in Switzerland of the European Broadcasting Union, which organizes the annual song competition, was convened to discuss some members\u2019 calls to have Israel ousted<\/a> from the contest over the war in Gaza and allegations of voting interference.<\/p>\n But despite calls for a vote on Israel\u2019s participation, the EBU instead said that its members approved new rules prohibiting voter interference from governments and third parties. (Several countries called for an audit of Eurovision\u2019s public voting system after Israel\u2019s Yuval Raphael took second place last year after being bolstered by the audience vote.)<\/p>\n While the EBU did not reference Israel in its press release following the meeting, it said that there would be \u201cno need for a further vote on participation.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA 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,\u201d the EBU said in a statement<\/a> Thursday.<\/p>\n Delphine Ernotte Cunci, the EBU\u2019s president, praised the decision in a statement, saying that the result \u201cdemonstrates our members\u2019 shared commitment to protecting transparency and trust in the Eurovision Song Contest.\u201d<\/p>\n Israeli President Isaac Herzog wrote in a post on X<\/a> that he was \u201cpleased\u201d that Israel will be included in this year\u2019s competition, adding, \u201cIsrael deserves to be represented on every stage around the world, a cause to which I am fully and actively committed.\u201d<\/p>\n And Golan Yochpaz, the CEO of Israeli broadcaster KAN, told EBU members during the meeting that \u201cthe attempt to remove KAN from the contest can only be understood as a cultural boycott.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA boycott may begin today with Israel, but no one knows where it will end or who else it may harm,\u201d continued Yochpaz. \u201cAre EBU members willing to be part of a step that harms freedom of creation and freedom of expression?\u201d<\/p>\n But after the meeting, several public broadcasters that had previously stated their intention to boycott the competition if Israel was allowed to compete followed through on their promises.<\/p>\n The Netherlands\u2019 public broadcaster AVROTROS said in a statement<\/a> that it had finalized its decision to boycott the competition, citing the \u201csevere humanitarian suffering in Gaza, the suppression of press freedom, and the political interference during the last Eurovision Song Contest.\u201d<\/p>\n RT\u00c9, the public broadcaster of Ireland, also announced<\/a> that it was pulling out of the song contest:<\/p>\n \u201cRT\u00c9 feels that Ireland\u2019s 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,\u201d the broadcaster said in a statement. \u201cRT\u00c9 remains deeply concerned by the targeted killing of journalists in Gaza during the conflict and the continued denial of access to international journalists to the territory.\u201d<\/p>\n The secretary general of RTVE, the public broadcaster in Spain, also criticized the EBU for declining some members\u2019 requests to hold a vote on Israel\u2019s participation in a press release announcing its withdrawal.<\/p>\n \u201cWe would like to express our serious doubts about the participation of Israeli broadcaster KAN in Eurovision 2026,\u201d RTVE Secretary General Alfonso Morales said in an address at the meeting.<\/a> \u201cThe situation in Gaza, despite the ceasefire and the approval of the peace process, and Israel\u2019s use of the contest for political purposes, make it increasingly difficult to maintain Eurovision as a neutral cultural event.\u201d<\/p>\n