The Eurovision Song Contest faces a tough choice – participating countries will decide on the 4th of December whether to allow Israel to participate in the 2026 music event, and several countries have threatened to withdraw, Reuters reports.
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) will meet to discuss new rules, which were introduced after Israel’s second-place finish this year to prevent governments and third parties from disproportionately influencing voters. Without specifically mentioning Israel, the EBU said that if member states are convinced that the rules are not appropriate, a vote on participation will be held.
Public broadcasters in Slovenia, Ireland, Spain and the Netherlands have threatened to boycott the event, scheduled for May in Austria, if Israel is allowed to participate. The high number of Palestinian deaths in the war and concerns about the genocide committed by Israel are cited as reasons.
The annual contest is watched by about 150 million viewers worldwide and is intended to be non-political, but the war in Gaza has drawn the event into the spotlight. If some of the largest member states, such as Spain, boycott the contest, there is a risk of losing a large audience and therefore sponsors.
Critics this year accused Israel of unfairly skewing the vote in its favor
– second place went to a musician who survived the attack on the 7th of October, 2023 by the terrorist group Hamas. This triggered the hostilities in Gaza. Israel has not responded to the accusations, but regularly indicates that it is subject to an international smear campaign.
EBU said it hopes the adopted rules will convince member states that appropriate steps have been taken to protect the neutrality and objectivity of the song contest. Eurovision expert Paul Jordan, who wrote a dissertation on the contest, said it was a crucial moment in the contest’s history. He said it was a crisis point and a vote would likely be needed.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
Luxembourg broadcaster RTL has supported the proposed changes, and Norway’s NRK described the EBU’s information about the significant changes as promising.
Reuters has learned that if the vote results in Israel being banned, Germany is likely to withdraw and not broadcast the contest. German broadcaster ARD did not comment. Austrian broadcaster ORF, meanwhile, wants Israel to participate.
Sources close to Israeli broadcaster KAN said it believed the discussion about Israel’s exclusion was unfounded and that KAN was fully compliant with EBU rules.
Aggressor state Russia was banned from Eurovision in 2022 after Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
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