Key Points
- Irish broadcaster RTE said Ireland will not take part in Eurovision 2026 if Israel is allowed to compete.
- Eurovision organisers say they’re still determining how to manage participation and geopolitical tensions.
- Eurovision 2025 winner JJ and the Spanish president have also called for Israel’s exclusion from the contest.
Ireland will not take part in next year’s Eurovision Song Contest if Israel is allowed to participate, Irish broadcaster RTE said, arguing that doing so would be “unconscionable” because of the conflict in Gaza.
Recent editions of Eurovision have been overshadowed by opposition to Israel’s participation in the contest over its continuing military assault on Gaza, which has killed more than 64,000 people, according to local health authorities. Israel’s campaign in Gaza escalated after an October 2023 attack on southern Israel by Hamas that killed 1,200 people and resulted in the capture of 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
Israel has participated in Eurovision as a longtime member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organises and co-produces the annual event.
Ireland’s RTE said a number of EBU members had raised concerns about Israel taking part in the event during a meeting in July.
“RTE feels that Ireland’s participation would be unconscionable given the ongoing and appalling loss of lives in Gaza,” the broadcaster said in a statement.
Organisers ‘consulting’ on geopolitical tensions
The EBU said it understood the “concerns and deeply held views around the ongoing conflict in the Middle East”.
EBU director Martin Green said in an emailed statement: “We are still consulting with all EBU members to gather views on how we manage participation and geopolitical tensions around the Eurovision Song Contest.”
“Broadcasters have until mid-December to confirm if they wish to take part in next year’s event in Vienna. It is up to each member to decide if they want to take part in the contest and we would respect any decision broadcasters make.”
RTE said it was also deeply concerned by “the targeted killing of journalists in Gaza, and the denial of access to international journalists to the territory, and the plight of the remaining hostages”.
Israel has denied targeting journalists in the enclave.
A final decision about Ireland’s participation in the 2026 competition will be made once the EBU makes its own decision on Israel, RTE said.
Ireland has participated in the contest since 1965 and won seven times, with only Sweden matching its record number of victories.
Spain and Eurovision 2025 winner also call for Israel’s exclusion
RTE’s announcement comes after similar calls for Israel to be excluded from the next Eurovision.
Israel’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest has overshadowed the event in recent years. Source: Getty / Harold Cunningham
Sánchez said “no-one was shocked” when Russia was asked to withdraw from such events after it invaded Ukraine.
“Therefore, Israel should not do so either,” he said.
“I would like the next Eurovision to be held in Vienna and without Israel,” the singer was quoted by Spanish newspaper El País as saying back in May.