At least 4 countries pull out of 2026 Eurovision contest as Israel’s participation sows discord

Earlier, EBU members voted to adopt tougher voting rules in response to allegations that Israel manipulated the vote in favor of their contestants, but took no action to exclude any broadcaster from the competition.

The feel-good pop music gala that draws more than 100 million viewers every year has been roiled by the war in Gaza for the past two years.

A report on the website of Icelandic broadcaster RUV, meanwhile, said it would meet next Wednesday to discuss whether Iceland would take part, after its board last week recommended that Israel be barred from the contest in Vienna next May.

The broadcasting union, in a statement emailed to The Associated Press, said it was aware that four broadcasters — RTVE in Spain, AVROTROS in the Netherlands, RTE in Ireland, and Slovenia's RTVSLO — had publicly said they would not take part.

“We await formal confirmation of their decision,” the union said. A final list of participating countries will be announced by Christmas.

Controversy over Israel

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said on X that he was “pleased” Israel will again take part, and hoped "the competition will remain one that champions culture, music, friendship between nations, and cross-border cultural understanding.”

“Thank you to all our friends who stood up for Israel’s right to continue to contribute and compete at Eurovision,” he added.

Austria, which is set to host the competition after Viennese singer JJ won this year with “Wasted Love,” supports Israel’s participation. Germany, too, was said to back Israel.

However, Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS said that the participation of Israel “is no longer compatible with the responsibility we bear as a public broadcaster.”

Spain's state broadcaster RTVE echoed similar concerns, expression “serious doubts about the participation of Israeli broadcaster KAN” according to Secretary General Alfonso Morales.

Irish broadcaster RTÉ said Ireland’s participation “remains unconscionable given the appalling loss of lives in Gaza" and the humanitarian crisis there.

Several of the broadcasters — which run their country's news programs and wanted Israel kept out — cited killings of journalists in the conflict in Gaza and Israel's continued policy of denying international journalists access to the territory.

Israeli broadcaster KAN's chief executive Golan Yochpaz questioned whether EBU members are "willing to be part of a step that harms freedom of creation and freedom of expression.”

KAN officials said the Israeli broadcaster was not involved in any prohibited campaign intended to influence the results of the latest song contest in Basel, Switzerland last May — when Israel's Yuval Raphael placed second.

The EBU said the new rules would strengthen “transparency and trust” and allow all countries, including Israel, to participate.

Divided over politics

The contest, whose 70th edition is scheduled for Vienna in May, pits acts from dozens of nations against one another for the continent's musical crown.

It strives to put pop before politics, but has repeatedly been embroiled in world events. Russia was expelled in 2022 after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The war in Gaza has been its biggest challenge, with pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrating against Israel outside the last two Eurovision contests in Basel, Switzerland, in May and Malmo, Sweden, in 2024.

Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain had previously threatened to sit out the contest, if Israel was let in.

Opponents of Israel's participation cite the war in Gaza, which has left more than 70,000 people dead, according to the territory's Health Ministry, which operates under the Hamas-run government and whose detailed records are viewed as generally reliable by the international community.

Israel’s government has repeatedly defended its campaign as a response to the attack by Hamas-led militants that started the war on Oct. 7, 2023. The militants killed around 1,200 people — mostly civilians — in the attack and took 251 hostage.

A number of experts, including those commissioned by a U.N. body, have said that Israel’s offensive in Gaza amounts to genocide, a claim that Israel — home to many Holocaust survivors and their relatives — has vigorously denied.

Earlier, it wasn't clear whether a decrease in violence in Gaza, where a U.S.-brokered ceasefire is holding, or planned EBU plans to change voting processes would placate some broadcasters who opposed Israel's participation.

A boycott by some European broadcasters could have implications for viewership and money at a time when many broadcasters are under financial pressure from government funding cuts and the advent of social media.

The pullouts include some big names in the Eurovision world. Spain is one of the “Big Five” large-market countries that contribute the most to the contest. Ireland has won seven times, a record it shares with Sweden.

The controversy over Israel's 2026 participation also threatens to overshadow the return next year of three countries — Bulgaria, Moldova and Romania — after periods of absence because of financial and artistic reasons.

Lawless reported from London.