Four nations to boycott Eurovision 2026 as Israel cleared to take part

Ireland, Spain, Slovenia and the Netherlands will boycott the 2022 Eurovision following the all-clear given to Israel to compete in the 2026 song contest despite becoming the target of the boycott by various participating broadcasters over the war in Gaza.

The attendance of Israel at the general assembly of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) that runs the competition was not voted on Thursday.

Rather, the departments which voted to engage in the voting process as broadcasters did so in order to implement new regulations which aimed at preventing governments and other third parties from promoting the songs disproportionately in an attempt to sway the voters.

“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 in a statement.

The Spanish TV RTVE also indicated that they would not sir the contest and the semi-finals in Vienna next year and the decision making process was not satisfactory and created a sense of distrust.

The BBC announced it would air the competition next year with it saying: “We support the collective decision made by members of the EBU. This is about enforcing the rules of the EBU and being inclusive,” it said.

A total of seven countries and the Spanish national broadcaster had petitioned a secret ballot at a Geneva meeting of broadcasters on Thursday.

The EBU presidency has rejected the request of RTVE to have a special vote concerning the participation of Israel. This move makes RTVE more suspicious of the organisation of the festival and proves the political pressure on it, it stated.

Spain’s culture minister, Ernest Urtasun, backed the boycott. He said: “You can’t whitewash Israel given the genocide in Gaza. Culture should be on the side of peace and justice. I’m proud of an RTVE that puts human rights before any economic interest.
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On Thursday afternoon the Dutch broadcaster Avrotos, announced that it would also withdraw next year. “After weighing all perspectives, Avrotos concludes that, under the current circumstances, participation cannot be reconciled with the public values that are fundamental to our organisation.”

On Thursday, EBU members had a meeting that covered new regulations that were to prevent promotion of songs by governments and other third parties to impact voters. Certain nations had already expressed objections to excessive promotion practices by Israel after Israel won the popular vote in the contest in May, having lost out in the final tally following the jury vote being added to the popular one