Four countries announce Eurovision 2026 boycott after Israel allowed to compete

Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain are all set to boycott Eurovision next year after Israel was given the go-ahead to compete amid calls from some participating broadcasters for the country’s exclusion.

• READ MORE: Eurovision 2024 – fans and boycotters speak: “This is bigger than the contest”

The 2026 edition will be the 70th. It’s set to be held in Vienna on May 16 after Austria won this year’s contest with singer JJ and his song ‘Wasted Love’.

At the general assembly of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organises the competition, today (December 4), there was no vote held on Israel’s participation. The EBU said in a statement, “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 Irish broadcaster RTÉ responded by saying (via The Guardian): “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 Spanish broadcaster RTVE – which confirmed in September that it would boycott if Israel participated next year – said it would not broadcast the contest or the semi-finals and criticised the decision-making process as “insufficient”. The broadcaster, along with those from seven other countries, had formally requested a secret ballot at the Geneva summit, and they said that the EBU’s decision “increases RTVE’s distrust of the festival’s organisation and confirms the political pressure surrounding it.”

It will be Spain’s first time staying away from the contest since 1961, and the boycott has been backed by the country’s culture minister, Ernest Urtasun, who said he was “proud of an RTVE that puts human rights before any economic interest.”

The Spanish Prime Minister called for the country to be banned from Eurovision back in May. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez noted at the time how “nobody was up in arms when the Russian invasion of Ukraine began three years ago and [Russia] had to leave international competitions and could not take part, as we have just seen, in Eurovision. Therefore Israel shouldn’t either, because what we cannot allow is double standards in culture.”

Dutch broadcaster Avrotros said it “concludes that, under the current circumstances, participation cannot be reconciled with the public values that are fundamental to our organisation,” while the Slovenian broadcaster RTVSLO said that taking part “would conflict with its values of peace, equality and respect.”

Prior to that, over 70 former Eurovision contestants signed an open letter calling for Israel and national broadcaster KAN to be banned from the 2025 contest. This year’s winner, JJ, has also called for Israel to be banned from the competition in 2026.

The calls to remove Israel from Eurovision have been in response to what an independent United Nations inquiry found to be a genocide in Gaza, which Israel has denied.

Also at the meeting, members discussed new rules aimed at preventing governments and third parties from promoting songs to influence voters. After Israel came first in the public vote at this year’s contest in May, finishing second to Austria overall with jury votes also taken into account, some countries alleged that Israel boosted its entry unfairly.

65 per cent of delegates voted in favour of the rule change and no further discussion of Israel’s participation, while 23 per cent voted against and a further 10 per cent abstained. Among those which voted for, but said they’d keep supporting the contest, were Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Iceland.

In a joint statement, they said they “supported” the decision to “address critical shortcomings”, and said 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”.

Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, said the country “deserves to be represented on every stage around the world” and he hopes “the competition will remain one that champions culture, music, friendship between nations, and cross-border cultural understanding.”

The BBC said it would broadcast the contest next year, saying it supports “the collective decision made by members of the EBU. This is about enforcing the rules of the EBU and being inclusive,” while the German broadcaster SWR has also confirmed it’ll be taking part.

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