Israel allowed to take part in Eurovision 2026 – as several countries withdraw | Ents & Arts News

Israel will be allowed to compete in next year’s Eurovision Song Contest – with several broadcasters saying they will now boycott the event.

Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS, Spain’s RTVE and Ireland’s RTE immediately issued statements saying they will not participate in the 2026 contest following the European Broadcasting Union’s general assembly meeting on Thursday.

Sky News understands Slovenia’s broadcaster will also pull out.

Members were asked to vote in a secret ballot on whether they were happy with new rules announced last month, without going ahead with a vote on participation next year.

In a statement, the EBU said members had shown “clear support for reforms to reinforce trust and protect neutrality”.

Ahead of the assembly, Israel’s public broadcaster KAN said its chief executive Golan Yochpaz and representative to the EBU, Ayala Mizrahi, would present KAN’s position “regarding attempts to disqualify Israel from the competition”.

In a statement, RTE said it will not participate nor will it broadcast the competition.

“RTE feels that Ireland’s participation remains unconscionable given the appalling loss of lives in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis there which continues to put the lives of so many civilians at risk,” the broadcaster said.

AVROTROS, broadcaster for the Netherlands, said that “under the current circumstances, participation cannot be reconciled with the public values that are fundamental to our organisation”, while Spain’s RTVE highlighted how its board of directors had agreed in September that the country would withdraw “if Israel was part of it”.

This is a big deal for Eurovision, as Spain is one of the “Big Five” broadcasters – a group which also includes France, Germany, Italy and the UK. While the host broadcaster – as last year’s winners this is Austria this year – will often contribute most towards the cost of staging the contest, the Big Five will also make up a significant amount.

The rule changes annnounced in November came after Israeli singer Yuval Raphael received the largest number of votes from the public at this year’s contest, held in Basel, Switzerland, in May – ultimately finishing as runner-up to Austria’s entry after the jury votes were counted.

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