As Israel is cleared to compete, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain have chosen to boycott Eurovision 2026.
Despite calls by several participating broadcasters for Israel’s exclusion over the war in Gaza, Israel has been cleared to compete in the Eurovision 2026 song contest. This has led to Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain boycotting the popular song competition in protest.
A no vote on Israel’s participation was held on Thursday at the general assembly of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the body that organizes the competition. However, instead, participating broadcasters voted only to introduce new rules, set to stop governments and third parties from disproportionately promoting songs to influence voters.
The BBC quotes EBU in a statement, “A large majority of members agreed that there was no need for a further vote on participation and that the Eurovision song contest 2026 should proceed as planned, with the additional safeguards in place.”
After the vote was held, Irish broadcaster RTÉ immediately chose to not participate in Eurovision 2026 or to broadcast the contest. The broadcaster said in a statement, “RTÉ feels that Ireland’s participation remains unconscionable given the appalling loss of lives in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis there, which continues to put the lives of so many civilians at risk.”
🚨 Latest: Full statement from @rte confirming Ireland’s withdrawal from Eurovision 2026. pic.twitter.com/60aB8R7geX
— Éirevision Podcast 🇮🇪 (@EirevisionPod) December 4, 2025
As for the Netherlands, Dutch broadcaster Avrotros released a statement on Thursday afternoon that it would also withdraw from the 2026 contest. “After weighing all perspectives, Avrotros concludes that, under the current circumstances, participation cannot be reconciled with the public values that are fundamental to our organization.”
RTVSLO, the Slovenian national broadcaster first threatened a boycott this summer, saying their participation “would conflict with its values of peace, equality and respect.”
president of the Slovenian broadcaster RTVSLO, Natalija Gorščak, stated that she expects the result of the debates at the EBU to favor Israel.
“I know that Eurovision fans from Slovenia are upset. It’s frustrating that Vienna is so geographically close to us, but we probably… pic.twitter.com/NAoyBB11Ij
— Eurovision News (@EurovisionNewZ) December 4, 2025
Spanish broadcaster RTVE also made a statement that it would not broadcast the Eurovision 2026 song contest or the semi-finals held in Vienna, describing the process of decision-making “insufficient” and engendering “distrust.”
Spain’s culture minister, Ernest Urtasun, was quick to back the boycott, saying, “You can’t whitewash Israel given the genocide in Gaza. Culture should be on the side of peace and justice. I’m proud of an RTVE that puts human rights before any economic interest.”
🔴RTVE se retira del Festival de Eurovisiónhttps://t.co/YG2YEjG94v pic.twitter.com/qF5wQpaqyi
— RTVE Noticias (@rtvenoticias) December 4, 2025
Meanwhile, the Spanish national broadcaster joined seven other countries in formally requesting a secret ballot at a summit in Geneva on Thursday.
It’s statement read, “The EBU presidency has denied RTVE’s request for a specific vote on Israel’s participation. This decision increases RTVE’s distrust of the festival’s organisation and confirms the political pressure surrounding it.”
As for the UK, the BBC has announced that it will broadcast the 2026 competition, saying, “We support the collective decision made by members of the EBU. This is about enforcing the rules of the EBU and being inclusive.” Meanwhile, the German broadcaster SWR confirmed it would also participate.
EBU members discussed at a meeting on Thursday new rules aimed to stop governments and third parties from promoting songs to influence voters. Some countries raised concern over undue promotion methods. This comes after Israel topped the public vote at the contest in May, where it finished second overall after jury votes were taken into consideration.
