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Public broadcasters from at least four countries — including Spain and the Netherlands — on Thursday pulled out of next year’s Eurovision Song Contest after organizers decided to allow Israel to compete. The developments expose how political discord has taken centre stage over a usually joyful celebration of harmony through music.
The pullouts, which were joined by Ireland and Slovenia, came after a general assembly of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) — a group of public broadcasters from 56 countries that runs the event — met to discuss concerns about Israel’s participation, which some countries oppose due to its conduct in the war in Gaza.
Earlier, EBU members voted to adopt tougher voting rules in response to allegations that Israel manipulated the vote in favour of its contestant, but took no action to exclude any broadcaster from the competition.
The feel-good pop music gala, which draws more than 100 million viewers every year, has been roiled by the war in Gaza for the past two years.
A report on the website of Icelandic broadcaster RUV, meanwhile, said it would meet next Wednesday to discuss whether Iceland would take part, after its board last week recommended that Israel be barred from the contest in Vienna next May.
The Eurovision Song Contest is known for often kitschy, eye-catching performances, but this year, it has become a focal point for protest against Israel’s war in Gaza.
The broadcasting union, in a statement emailed to The Associated Press, said it was aware that four broadcasters — RTVE in Spain, Avrotros in the Netherlands, RTE in Ireland, and Slovenia’s RTVSLO — had publicly said they would not take part.
“We await formal confirmation of their decision,” the union said. A final list of participating countries will be announced by Christmas.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said on X that he was “pleased” Israel will again take part, and hoped “the competition will remain one that champions culture, music, friendship between nations, and cross-border cultural understanding.”
“Thank you to all our friends who stood up for Israel’s right to continue to contribute and compete at Eurovision,” he added.
Austria, which is set to host the competition after Viennese singer JJ won this year with Wasted Love, supports Israel’s participation. Germany, too, was said to back Israel.
However, Avrotros said that the participation of Israel “is no longer compatible with the responsibility we bear as a public broadcaster.”
RTVE echoed similar concerns, expression “serious doubts about the participation of Israeli broadcaster KAN” according to Secretary General Alfonso Morales.
RTE said Israel’s participation “remains unconscionable given the appalling loss of lives in Gaza” and the humanitarian crisis there.
Several of the broadcasters — which run their country’s news programs and wanted Israel kept out — cited killings of journalists in the conflict in Gaza and Israel’s continued policy of denying international journalists access to the territory.
Divided over politics
The contest, whose 70th edition is scheduled for Vienna in May, pits acts from dozens of nations against one another for the continent’s musical crown.
It strives to put pop before politics, but has repeatedly been embroiled in world events. Russia was expelled in 2022 after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Yet the war in Gaza has been its biggest challenge, with pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrating against Israel outside the last two Eurovision contests in Basel, Switzerland, in May and Malmo, Sweden, in 2024.
Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain had previously threatened to sit out the contest, if Israel was let in.
Opponents of Israel’s participation criticize the conduct of the war in Gaza, which has left more than 70,000 people dead, according to the enclave’s health officials.
Israel’s government has repeatedly defended its campaign as a response to the attack by Hamas-led militants that started the war on Oct. 7, 2023. The militants killed around 1,200 people — mostly civilians — in the attack and took 251 hostages, according to Israeli officials.
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A boycott by some European broadcasters could have implications for viewership and money at a time when many broadcasters are under financial pressure from government funding cuts and the advent of social media.
The pullouts include some big names in the Eurovision world.
Spain is one of the “Big Five” large-market countries that contribute the most to the contest. Ireland has won seven times, a record it shares with Sweden.
The controversy over Israel’s 2026 participation threatens to overshadow the return next year of three countries — Bulgaria, Moldova and Romania — after periods of absence because of financial and artistic reasons.
