Eurovision is supposed to be a celebration of the unifying power of music. But for the past two years, it has attracted protests and fan boycotts over its inclusion of Israel amid the country’s continued military action in Gaza.
Ahead of 2026’s contest, while nobody has even sung a note yet, a number of countries have been getting vocal.
“If Israel is there, we won’t be there,” says Natalija Gorscak, the president of broadcaster RTV Slovenia.
As the world waits to see what happens with the negotiations over Donald Trump‘s Gaza peace plan, within the cultural world, there’s no let up in the increasing isolation of Israel.
Slovenia and broadcasters from Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, and Iceland have all issued statements saying if Israel’s allowed to enter, they’ll consider boycotting the contest next year.
Jolted into action by the controversy, officials from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) – which runs the contest – have announced plans for an emergency vote.
In a letter to members, EBU president Delphine Ernotte-Cunci said “given that the union has never faced a divisive situation like this before”, the board agreed it “merited a broader democratic basis for a decision”.
Described by the EBU as “an extraordinary meeting of [its] general assembly to be held online”, early next month member countries will be asked to vote on whether Israel should or shouldn’t participate.
Eurovision expert Dr Paul Jordan said: “Ultimately this has been a really challenging issue for the EBU. This is a really complex picture that is building up… and they’ve not been consistent.
“The situation is made even more complicated by the fact the organisers themselves haven’t sometimes followed their own rules about political entries and about political messaging, and they’ve allowed certain countries to, in a sense, get away with breaking the rules or deeming them to have not broken the rules sufficiently to allow participation.
“As far as I’m aware, the Israeli broadcaster has not broken any rules. However, you could argue their inclusion could indeed bring the contest into disrepute, which would be against the organisers’ rules.”
‘We should focus on music’
In 2023, Israel was represented by Noa Kirel, her country’s equivalent to Britney Spears. She came third with her song Unicorn.
“It was one of the highlights in my career, it was an incredible experience for me,” she said.
While she acknowledges “it’s very different from two years ago when I represented Israel”, she hopes her country won’t be excluded next month.
“It’s not about politics, it’s never been like that, and we should keep it that way, to focus on music.”
She believes it would be unfair to punish the Israeli people for the actions of their government: “Voters understand that politics has no connection to this competition.
“Hopefully people will understand and respect that, see the good side… and not the bad side.”
‘European policy needs more balls’
Regardless of the outcome of next month’s vote, Ireland, Iceland, and Slovenia have all confirmed to Sky News that their plans to boycott will stand as long as Israel’s still at war.
Ms Gorscak said: “We can lie to ourselves and say ‘no, it’s not political’ but, you know, you can’t avoid politics.”
She believes it’s fundamentally wrong for bigger countries to be sitting on the fence.
“We are all somehow prisoner of German guilt towards Israel,” she claimed. “European policy, it needs more balls. In certain moments somebody needs to decide, somebody needs to say ‘this is enough’.”
A spokesperson for German broadcaster SWR has said it “supports the consultation process that has been initiated” and that the goal is “to reach a well-founded and sustainable agreement that aligns with the values of the EBU”.
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Whether Spain abides by the outcome of next month’s vote might have the biggest impact.
If it makes good on its threat to boycott – as one of the big five backers of Eurovision – financially it’ll hurt.
Ms Gorscak explained: “Slovenia is a small country, and while our participation fee is peanuts, if there are more countries who are not participating it is seen in the budget.”
Israel’s public broadcaster, KAN, has said its “potential disqualification… could have wide-ranging implications for the competition and the values for which the EBU stands”.
Dr Jordan said up until now we’ve mostly seen “virtue signalling” when it comes to Eurovision artists speaking out who’ve ultimately opted to perform regardless of their objections to Israel’s inclusion on the night.
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However, should entire nations boycott in 2026, he said the impact will be felt way beyond the contest’s final.
“There are two semi-finals, because of the number of participating countries, and if there isn’t a need for two semi-finals that will impact upon the logistics of the event and even the funding,” he explained.
Pop bangers and power ballads aside, the criticism of the EBU has become deafeningly loud. The world waiting and watching for political decisions – and cultural ones too.
