Spain, Ireland, Slovenia and the Netherlands announced on Thursday their withdrawal from next year’s Eurovision Song Contest after organizers decided to allow Israel to compete.
Organizers of the pop music spectacle, which draws millions of viewers around the world, met early Thursday to discuss Israel’s participation amid calls to exclude Israel over the Gaza war and threats of boycott from some member states.
An independent United Nations investigation concluded in September that Israel committed genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and that the country’s top leaders incited the genocide. The Israeli government staunchly denies the accusations of genocide, saying it is fighting the war in Gaza in self-defense and in accordance with international law.
Member states of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the event’s main organizer, decided not to vote on Israel’s participation, but said “targeted changes” should be introduced to improve neutrality.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said he was “pleased” with the EBU’s decision and thanked all those who “contributed to Eurovision and defended Israel’s right to continue to compete.” Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said it was “embarrassing” that countries were boycotting the contest.
The Eurovision conference was held at the Geneva headquarters of the EBU, which is made up of public broadcasters from 56 countries, to consider new rules announced last month to limit governments and third parties from unduly influencing voting.
During the consultation, EBU members “supported a series of targeted changes to the rules of the Eurovision Song Contest, aimed at strengthening the credibility, transparency and neutrality of the event,” according to a statement from the union.
“This vote means that all EBU members who wish to take part in the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest and who agree to abide by the new rules are eligible to take part,” it added.
Several countries have expressed concern about Israel’s participation in the Games, citing Israel’s war in Gaza, which stemmed from Hamas’ deadly cross-border attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. The conflict has killed more than 70,000 people, according to the Hamas-run Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Israeli public broadcaster KAN has ruled out the possibility of excluding Israeli participants from the contest, which will be held in Vienna in May 2026. The association’s CEO, Goran Yokpaz, said at Thursday’s meeting that some attempts to block Israeli competition “can only be understood as a cultural boycott,” according to a statement from the broadcaster.
The EBU said a vote on Israel’s participation could have taken place had member states not agreed to the new safeguard changes. Had there been a vote, the exemption would have needed an absolute majority to pass.
“The majority of member states agreed that there was no need for a further vote on participation and that the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest should go ahead as planned, with additional safeguards in place,” the EBU said in a statement.
Last month, competition director Martin Green said: “The neutrality and integrity of the Eurovision Song Contest is of the utmost importance to the EBU, its members and all viewers. It is essential that the fairness of the competition is upheld at all times.”
He added: “We are taking clear and decisive steps to ensure the contest remains a celebration of music and unity.”
Following the move to allow Israel to remain in the tournament, some countries announced boycotts, and Spanish public broadcaster RTVE announced Spain’s “withdrawal” from the tournament following the EBU’s decision. Spain is one of the so-called big five, which provide the most money to the contest.
Ireland’s national broadcaster RTÉ issued a statement saying it “will not be participating in or broadcasting” the contest. Dutch broadcaster Avrotros said the decision not to participate was made following “a careful process that gathered input from a wide range of stakeholders.”
“Avrotros has concluded that participation under the current circumstances is inconsistent with our essential public values.”
Natalja Gorszczak, president of Slovenian public broadcaster RTV SLO, told CNN on Thursday that the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas “is not a real peace agreement because people are still dying.”
If Israel had decided to withdraw from the contest and wait for “everything to calm down” before rejoining, “there would have been no conflict” and everyone would have been “united in music,” she said.
Started in 1956, the Eurovision Song Contest is famous for being a quirky festival where artists from dozens of countries compete for the annual musical crown. According to the EBU, last year’s contest was watched by 166 million people, three million more than the previous year.
It has tried to prioritize music over politics, but pro-Palestinian demonstrators protested in the past two contests in Switzerland and Sweden.
This is not the first time the world championships have been a divisive issue for the competition. The EBU expelled Russia from participating in the EU in the wake of a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Other countries also support Israel’s participation in the event, including Germany, another major contributor.
“Israel is participating in the Eurovision Song Contest,” German Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer previously told Reuters. “ESC should not exist without Israel.”
“Yes, there will probably be very interesting discussions (about Israel’s participation). So we will have to wait until the talks are over,” Nicolau Santos, president of Portuguese broadcaster RTP, told Reuters when he arrived for talks on Thursday.
“Eurovision is becoming a bit of a divisive event,” Paul Jordan, a Eurovision expert known as Doctor Eurovision, told The Associated Press. “The slogan is ‘Unite through music,'” he added. “Unfortunately, politics is destroying unity.”
Last week, Austrian Foreign Minister Beate Meini-Reisinger reiterated her long-standing claim that the contest is a politically neutral forum. Noting that a small number of countries are planning to boycott the 70th edition in 2026, she insisted in a post on X that the contest was “not a means of sanctions” and appealed to European partners to find ways to “improve the situation in Israel and Gaza together.”
CNN’s Lauren Said Moorhouse, Lauren Kent, Stephanie Halas, Mick Kleber, Niamh Kennedy and Tal Shareef contributed to this report.
