Iceland Has Become The Fifth Country To Boycott Eurovision Over Israel Being Allowed To Compete

Iceland has become the fifth country to boycott Eurovision 2026 over the competition allowing Israel to compete despite its genocide in Gaza.

Despite multiple petitions and threats of boycotts, Eurovision still allowed Israel to compete in Eurovision 2025, despite banning Russia from competing in 2022 over its invasion of Ukraine.

During Eurovision 2025, Israel’s contestant won the public televote but received zero points from the professional juries.

Spain and Belgium asked the EBU to investigate whether the televote had been manipulated.

The EBU’s investigation found that Israel has paid for digital advertisements linked to Israeli government outreach channels, pushing videos that urged people to back Israel’s Eurovision contestant Yuval Raphael and reminded people that they could vote up to 20 times.

The EBU claimed there was no evidence of fraud and that its independent investigation found the vote met its verification standards.

However, on Nov. 21 the EBU announced changes to the Eurovision rules, stating that each fan will only be allowed to cast 10 votes, down from 20, but still refused to vote on voting on banning Israel from competing.

The EBU defended its decision to keep Israel in the competition and said members had backed a set of reforms aimed at “protecting transparency and trust” in the contest, including stricter rules on political promotion and voting.

Spain, Ireland and the Netherlands rejected that reasoning, saying the EBU’s neutrality claim does not hold during a genocide.

On Thursday, Dec. 4, Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands and Slovenia all announced they are boycotting the 2026 Eurovision, which will be held in May in Vienna, Austria, saying participating would be “unconscionable given the appalling loss of lives in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis there” as well as “targeted killing of journalists in Gaza”.

On Wednesday, Dec. 10, Iceland’s public broadcaster RUV announced the country won’t be participating in the 2026 contest as well due to Israel’s participation.

“There is neither peace nor joy surrounding this competition as things currently stand,” RUV director general Stefan Eiriksson said in a statement.

More On This

Spain Called Israel “A Genocidal State,” For It To Be Banned From Eurovision And Began Reviewing An Arms Embargo

Pedro Sánchez said that Spain would not trade with “a genocidal state,” and calling for Israel to be banned from international cultural events such as Eurovision.

AlmostKassy Cho

Israel Tried To Compete at Eurovision With A Song Referencing Hamas’ Oct. 7 Attack And Caused A Huge Controversy

Israel tried to enter the competition with a song called “October Rain” that references the “the condition of Israeli civilians” during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.

AlmostSofia Hou