The organisers of the Eurovision Song Contest have postponed a vote on whether Israel should be allowed to perform in next year’s competition.
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The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has said that “recent developments in the Middle East” have caused it to cancel a virtual meeting to vote on the matter, which was due to take place in November.
It said Israel’s participation would instead be discussed at an in-person meeting in December, though it did not make clear whether a vote would still take place.
It comes after all 20 living Israeli hostages were freed by Hamas in exchange for the return of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails on Monday (October 13), following a ceasefire coming into force on Friday (October 10).
In a statement, the EBU said: “In the light of recent developments in the Middle East, the EBU’s executive board (meeting on October 13) agreed there was a clear need to organise an open and in-person discussion among its members on the issue of participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026.”
“Consequently, the board agreed to put the issue on the agenda of its ordinary winter general assembly, which will be taking place in December, rather than organising an extraordinary session in advance,” it added.
The EBU announced last month it would invite 68 member countries to give their view on whether Israel should take part, at a general assembly meeting in November.
Israel’s participation in Eurovision has faced opposition from some other participating countries due to the war in Gaza, including Spain, which became the first of the ‘big five’ to threaten their absence back in September.
The ‘big five’ is comprised of the five countries that make the biggest financial contributions to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). These five countries – Spain, Italy, France, Germany and the UK – are granted immediate progression to the Eurovision finals every year regardless of their placing in the previous year’s contest, or without clearing the semi-finals. Should Israel participate in 2026, it will mark Spain and RTVE’s first time sitting out since joining in 1961.
Speaking of the boycott, broadcaster RTVE president José Pablo López said, per The Guardian: “As joint organisers of the Eurovision song contest, we share a collective responsibility. While Israel has regularly participated in the competition, the current events and the genocide currently taking place make it impossible for us to look the other way.”
“It is not accurate to claim that Eurovision is merely an apolitical music festival. We are all aware that the contest carries significant political implications. The Israeli government is equally aware of this fact and leverages the event on the international stage.”
Other countries that have pledged to boycott Eurovision if Israel continues to participate include Ireland, The Netherlands and Slovenia.
Dutch broadcaster AvroTros said last month it would not change its position if a ceasefire in Gaza was reached.
“If a ceasefire is reached in the near future or the conflict develops differently, that will not change our position for 2026. We will reassess participation in subsequent years, depending on the circumstances at that time,” it said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the BBC – the UK’s Eurovision broadcaster – has argued that while it acknowledges concerns raised by Spain and other countries, “Eurovision has never been about politics.”
In a previous comment to NME, Director of the Eurovision Song Contest, Martin Green CBE, said: “The EBU is an association of public service broadcasters, not governments. We remain in constant contact with all participating broadcasters of the Eurovision Song Contest, including RTVE in Spain, and take their concerns seriously.
“Now that the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 has concluded we will have a broad discussion with all participating broadcasters, to reflect and obtain feedback on all aspects of this year’s event as part of our planning process for the 70th Eurovision Song Contest next year.”
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.”
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.
Israel’s inclusion in the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest came despite Russia being banned from the contest since 2022 due to its ongoing conflict with Ukraine. Israel’s representative Yuval Raphael eventually finished second in the contest. In 2024, Ireland’s Eurovision entry Bambie Thug was also forced to change their pro-Palestine message by the competition’s organisers.
Unofficial proposals for a solution so far include suggestions that Israel temporarily withdraw from the competition or perform under a neutral flag, per Ynet Global.
