The European Broadcasting Union decides on Israel’s participation in Eurovision because of its military activity. Some countries are threatening boycotts, while others are criticizing conditions in the Gaza Strip.
Israel’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest will be discussed at a two-day meeting of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) in Geneva, which will begin on Thursday. Because of Israel’s military activity in the Gaza Strip, some EBU member companies are asking for its exclusion. TASR informs about it according to the report of the AFP agency.
In recent months, Iceland, Ireland, Spain and the Netherlands have threatened to withdraw from the competition in 2026 if Israel participates. Belgium, Finland and Sweden have indicated they are considering boycotting the competition due to the situation in the Palestinian territories.
International protests against Israel
In justifying its decision, the Dutch public broadcaster AVROTROS pointed to “serious violations of press freedom” by Israel in the Gaza Strip. She also accused him of “proven interference during the last year of the competition”. Israeli singer Yuval Raphael came second and Israel reportedly lobbied the foreign public to vote for her.
The EBU, as Eurovision organizer, had planned to call member broadcasters in November to vote on the issue. A few days after announcing the ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement on October 10, the EBU moved it to a regular general meeting on December 4 and 5.
Change of voting rules
In November, the EBU announced that it had changed the voting rules for the competition to address members’ concerns and strengthen “trust and transparency”. During the current session, broadcasters will consider whether the new measures are sufficient or whether they still want to vote on Israel’s participation.
