Israel Set to Compete in Eurovision 2026 as Spain, Netherlands, Ireland, and Slovenia Announce Withdrawal

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Key Points

The European Broadcasting Union confirmed Israel will be allowed to participate in Eurovision 2026.
In response, Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, and Slovenia announced their withdrawal from the contest.
The EBU has introduced new rules to limit government and third-party influence on the contest.

Israel has been cleared to enter the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest by the organiser, prompting four countries to withdraw over the Gaza war and plunging the competition into one of the biggest rows in its history.

The broadcasters who had threatened to boycott the event cited the number of people killed in Gaza and accused Israel of flouting rules meant to guard the contest’s neutrality. Israel accuses its critics of mounting a global smear campaign against it.

After an overnight meeting in Geneva, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) decided not to hold a vote on Israel’s participation, saying it had instead passed new rules aimed at discouraging governments from influencing the contest.

Ben Robertson, a Eurovision expert from fan website ESC Insight, said the contest’s integrity was at its lowest ebb.

The Eurovision Song Contest has never seen such a contentious split among its member broadcasters, according to the contest organizer. The recent announcement comes amidst heightened tensions and deeply held views on the ongoing war in the Middle East, both locally and internationally. These concerns are resonating strongly within the European Broadcasting Union.

The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) has expressed respect for the diverse opinions and significant concerns surrounding the conflict. An SBS spokesperson highlighted the broadcaster’s commitment to providing Australians with comprehensive, reliable, and neutral reporting across its platforms, ensuring audiences remain informed during these challenging times.

SBS — an associate member of EBU and Australia’s official broadcaster of the competition — said its “participation in and coverage of Eurovision will continue in 2026”.

“Our position remains that, as a public broadcaster, making a decision to be involved based on the inclusion or exclusion of any country would undermine SBS’s editorial independence and impartiality,” an SBS spokesperson said.

In response to the contest’s recent developments, several broadcasters from the Netherlands, Spain, Ireland, and Slovenia have decided to withdraw. This means that representatives from these nations will not take part in the popular event, which annually captivates millions of viewers across the globe.

Meanwhile, Iceland’s public broadcaster, RUV, has indicated that its board is set to make a decision by Wednesday on whether they will participate in the upcoming Eurovision event slated to take place in Vienna next May.

Israel’s involvement in the Eurovision Song Contest has sparked considerable debate, mirroring the competition’s history of being intertwined with national disputes, international controversies, and political voting patterns.

The Dutch broadcaster said it had concluded “that under the current circumstances participation cannot be reconciled with the public values that are fundamental to our organisation”.

Irish broadcaster RTE said it felt “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”.

Jose Pablo Lopez, head of Spanish state broadcaster RTVE, said on X: “What happened in the EBU Assembly confirms that Eurovision is not a song contest but a festival dominated by geopolitical interests and fractured.”

Spain is one of Eurovision’s largest financial contributors who qualify automatically for the grand final, so its withdrawal will be a significant change to the line-up.

RTV Slovenija said it, together with Spain, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Türkiye, Algeria and Iceland, requested a secret vote on Israel’s participation, but it was not held.

Germany, a major Eurovision backer, had signalled it would not take part if Israel was barred. Germany’s culture minister Wolfram Weimer told the Bild newspaper he welcomed the decision.

“Israel belongs to the Eurovision Song Contest like Germany belongs to Europe,” he said.

Icelandic public broadcaster RUV said its board will decide on Wednesday whether to participate in the next Eurovision, which will be held in Vienna in May.

Controversy over Israel’s participation in Eurovision

Israel’s participation has divided opinion in the competition, which has a history of entanglement in national rivalries, international issues, and political voting.

Its 2025 entrant, Yuval Raphael, was at the Nova music festival, a target of the October 7 attack by Hamas.

A total of 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage in the assault, according to Israeli tallies. More than 70,000 people have been killed in Gaza in the ensuing conflict, according to health authorities in the enclave.

Instead of voting on Israel, the EBU said its members backed rules intended to discourage governments and third parties from disproportionately promoting songs to sway voters after allegations that Israel unfairly boosted its 2025 entrant.

“This vote means that all EBU members who wish to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 and agree to comply with the new rules are eligible to take part,” it said.

Martin Green, the contest’s director, said EBU members showed they wanted to protect the neutrality of the competition.

“Eurovision was born from the ashes of the Second World War,” he said. “It was designed to bring us together, and it will hit bumps in the road, and we have a complicated world, but we hope it’s a temporary situation, and we’ll move forward.”

Israel welcomes EBU decision

Israel’s President Isaac Herzog thanked his country’s supporters.

“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 said.

Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar also welcomed the announcement, criticising the countries that chose to boycott the event.

“I welcome the decision of the European Broadcasting Union. I am ashamed of those countries that chose to boycott a music competition like Eurovision because of Israel’s participation. The disgrace is upon them,” Sa’ar said on X.

— With additional reporting from Reuters and Agence France-Presse