Israel was cleared on Thursday to enter the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest by the organizer, prompting Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, and Slovenia 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 death count 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 a meeting in Geneva, the European Broadcasting Union, or EBU, decided not to call a vote on Israel’s participation, saying it had instead passed new rules aimed at discouraging governments from influencing the contest. Right after that announcement by the contest organizer, the Dutch, Spanish, Irish and Slovenian broadcasters said they would withdraw, meaning singers from their countries would not compete in the contest that draws millions of viewers worldwide.
Ben Robertson, a Eurovision expert from fan website ESC Insight, told Reuters the contest’s integrity was at its lowest ebb. “Never in the history of the contest have we had such a vote, and such a split, between the member broadcasters of the European Broadcasting Union,” he said.
Popularity of the Eurovision Song Contest and controversy over Israel
The Eurovision Song Contest dates back to 1956 and reaches around 160 million viewers, according to the EBU—more than the almost 128 million recorded for this year’s US Super Bowl, according to figures from Nielsen.
Israel’s participation has divided opinion in the competition that has a history of entanglement in national rivalries, international issues and political voting, Reuters notes. Its 2025 entrant, Yuval Raphael, was at the Nova music festival, a target of the October 7, 2023 attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel that triggered the Gaza war.
Related: Scrutiny of Israel’s Eurovision Song May See Country Leave Contest
