Ireland, Spain, The Netherlands And Slovenia Are Boycotting Eurovision Over Israel Being Allowed To Compete
Despite multiple petitions and threats of boycotts, Eurovision had allowed Israel to compete in 2025.
Four countries, Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain and Slovenia, announced they are boycotting Eurovision after Eurovision’s organizing body, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), confirmed that Israel would remain in the 2026 contest despite its genocide in Gaza.
Despite multiple petitions and threats of boycotts, Eurovision had allowed Israel to compete in 2025, although it banned Russia from competing in 2022 over its invasion of Ukraine.
There were then concerns when Israel’s 2025 contestant won the public televote but received zero points from the professional juries.
Spain and Belgium asked the EBU to investigate if the televote had been manipulated.
The EBU found Israel had paid for digital ads that linked to Israeli government outreach channels, pushing videos that urged people to back its Eurovision contestant Yuval Raphael and reminded them they could vote up to 20 times.
The EBU claimed there was no evidence of fraud and its independent investigation found the vote met its verification standards.
However, on Nov. 21, the EBU announced changes to the Eurovision rules, saying each fan will only be allowed to cast 10 votes, down from 20.
It also banned contestants and broadcasters from joining any third-party advertising campaigns, including those run by governments, the BBC reported.
The EBU then asked its members to decide whether the new rules were sufficient, with the majority voting yes.
The EBU defended its decision to keep Israel, saying members had backed 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 neutrality claim does not hold during a genocide.
On Thursday, Dec. 4, Ireland became the first to boycott Eurovision, saying participating would be “unconscionable given the appalling loss of lives in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis there” and “targeted killing of journalists in Gaza”.
It was soon followed by Spain, the Netherlands and Slovenia.
Iceland is also expected to make a decision regarding the boycott soon.
Kassy Cho
Isha Jain
Sofia Hou
