Four nations have withdrawn from the Eurovision Song Contest after organisers opted against voting on Israel's participation, allowing the country to take part in next year's event.
Spain, Ireland, Slovenia and the Netherlands all announced they will boycott Eurovision, the world's largest live music competition, over the decision. Iceland said it was considering its position.
The boycott could reduce the budget for next year's show in Vienna but the event will be no worse for it, said its host, Austrian broadcaster ORF.
Spain is one of the five countries whose broadcasters make the biggest financial contribution towards the organisation of the contest, according to the Eurovision website. Ireland is also an important Eurovision nation, having won the competition a record seven times, tied with Sweden.
Ireland's premier Micheal Martin said on Friday: “I fully understand the decision of RTE as a broadcaster because there are two groups of people, among many, who acted extremely brave during the war in Gaza – the medical community and journalists.”
“And this is, among other things, [is] an act of solidarity with those journalists who were killed in breach of international humanitarian law during the war in Gaza,” Mr Martin said. “Without those journalists, the world would not have known to the degree that it knows the horrors of what transpired in Gaza.”
The head of Slovenia's RTV broadcaster Natalija Gorcsak told the BBC's Newshour programme that boycotting Israel was a matter of applying rules equally.
“It's obvious: if we excluded Russia, like one week after they attacked Ukraine, I think the same rules should be applied to Israel,” Ms Gorscak said.
Israel has pushed back against this argument, saying it is not the aggressor in the Gaza war because it was attacked first. Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine led to it being barred from Eurovision in the context of international sanctions.
'Aggression is aggression'
The scale of the destruction in Gaza justifies boycotting Israel, argues Slovenia. More than 70,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's military operation, triggering accusations of genocide from a UN independent commission of inquiry.
“When 20,000 children die, when 92 per cent of homes are destroyed, I can't see that it's not a similar situation,” Ms Gorscak said. “Aggression is aggression. Whatever the reason is, it doesn't give you a mandate to kill so many people.”
Spain also cited the human toll of the war as the reason for its decisions.
“The situation in Gaza, despite the ceasefire and the approval of the peace process, and the use of the contest for political goals by Israel, makes it increasingly difficult to keep Eurovision a neutral cultural event,” said Alfonso Morales, secretary general of Spain's RTVE.
Dutch broadcaster Avrotros said involvement in next year's event “cannot be reconciled with the public values that are fundamental to our organisation”.
Iceland's RUV said on its website that its board would discuss “whether Iceland will participate in the competition next year, despite Israel's participation”. Iceland has previously threatened to withdraw from the contest.
Belgium and Finland also said they were considering a boycott over the situation in Gaza.
Voter fraud
There have been suspicions, too, about the manipulation of the voting system to favour Israel.
Eurovision voting arrangements came under scrutiny after Israel's Yuval Raphael, a survivor of Hamas attacks, surged into second place after the public vote in the contest in May.
Similar concerns about voter manipulation were raised in 2024, when Israel's Eden Golan rose to fifth place despite lacklustre scoring from national juries.
“What did we get last year? A political song,” Ms Gorscak said, adding there was “something wrong with” the voting system.
Slovenians were “shocked” to see that their country had voted for Israel in second place because public opinion was “very much against the performance of Israel”, she said.
For now, this is a minority position among members of the European Broadcasting Union, which organises the contest. At a closed-door meeting in Geneva on Thursday, members agreed to back changes including new rules to deter countries organising campaigns for their acts.
This is understood to be a response to the concerns raised last year by many including Avrotros, which accused Israel of “proven interference” by lobbying the public overseas to vote for the country's entry.
Eurovision entries are scored first by professional juries, then the public by phone, text or online, which often radically alters the leader board.
There was, however, no direct vote on Israel's participation.
The EBU said that there was “clear support” among members for reforms introduced to “reinforce trust and protect neutrality”.
“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.
France welcomed EBU's decision. “France helped prevent a boycott of Israel,” Foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on X. He added that he “deeply regretted that several European television channels made a different choice”.
The UK's public broadcaster, the BBC, said it supported “the collective decision made by members of the EBU”.
“This is about enforcing the rules of the EBU and being inclusive,” a spokesperson said.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog welcomed the EBU decision and said his country “deserves to be represented on every stage around the world”.
Foreign Minister Gideon Saar also welcomed the news in a post on X. “I am ashamed of those countries that chose to boycott a music competition like Eurovision because of Israel's participation,” he wrote.
In the run-up to the EBU meeting, held under tight security, members appeared divided on the issue, with Israel winning support notably from Germany.
“Israel is part of Eurovision just as Germany is part of Europe,” German Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer was quoted as saying by the Bild newspaper.
