Ireland, Spain and the Netherlands boycott Eurovision 2026 while allowing Israel to compete Eurovision

Ireland, Spain and the Netherlands will boycott next year’s Eurovision after Israel received full approval to compete in next year’s song contest despite calls from several participating broadcasters to be excluded.

At the General Assembly of the European Broadcasting Union, the body that organizes the hugely popular annual international singing competition, no vote was taken on Israel’s participation.

Instead, the participating broadcasters only voted to introduce new rules designed to prevent governments and third parties from disproportionately promoting songs to influence voters.

“A large majority of members agreed that there was no need for another vote on participation and that the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 should go ahead as planned, with the additional safeguards in place,” the EBU said in a statement.

In response, Spanish broadcaster RTVE said it would not broadcast the competition or the semi-finals in Vienna next year, describing the decision-making process as “inadequate” and generating “mistrust”.

RTVE, along with seven other countries, formally requested a secret ballot at the broadcasters’ summit in Geneva on Thursday.

She said in a statement, “The Presidency of the European Broadcasting Union rejected RTVE’s request to hold a specific vote on Israel’s participation. This decision increases RTVE’s lack of confidence in organizing the festival and confirms the political pressures surrounding it.”

In a statement issued Thursday afternoon, Dutch broadcaster Afrotros said it would also withdraw from next year’s competition as a result. “After evaluating all points of view, Afrotros has concluded that, under the current circumstances, participation cannot be reconciled with the public values ​​that are fundamental to our organization.”

All eyes will now turn to other countries whose broadcasters have threatened to boycott the next edition of the event if Israel is allowed to participate, including Iceland and Slovenia.

At the meeting on Thursday, EBU members discussed new rules designed to prevent governments and third parties from disproportionately promoting songs to influence voters.

Some countries raised concerns about unjustified promotional tactics after Israel topped the public vote in the competition in May, finishing second overall after taking the jury’s votes into account.

The proposed rule changes were seen as an olive branch to broadcast stations critical of Israel, but were apparently deemed insufficient.

In September, Golan Yochbaz, CEO of Israel’s Kan radio, said: “There is no reason why Israel cannot continue to be an important part of this cultural event, which cannot become political.”

The 2026 edition of the world’s largest live music event, the 70th in its history, will be held in Vienna after Austrian singer JJ won this year.

In Germany, prominent politicians suggested withdrawing the SWR channel in solidarity if Israel was excluded. Austrian broadcaster ORF also said it wanted to compete with Israel.

SWR said before the meeting that Israel was entitled to compete in the competition. She said the competition had, for decades, been “a competition organized by EU broadcasters, not governments” and “the Israel Broadcasting Corporation had met all requirements associated with participation” for 2026.

Russia has been banned from Eurovision after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Israel, which has won the contest four times since its debut in 1973, has competed for the past two years despite controversies over its participation.