Israel will remain in Eurovision.
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) the body that organizes the eclectic, but hugely popular, annual international singing competition, decided on Thursday that Israel be allowed to participate in next year’s event as planned. Several European countries, including Ireland, Spain, Slovenia and the Netherlands, announced they will boycott next year’s Eurovision in protest.
Broadcasters from a number of European countries had called for Israel to be excluded from the competition due to the war in Gaza. Russia was banned from Eurovision after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The EBU, which held its general assembly in Geneva on Thursday, did not hold a vote on Israel’s participation. Instead, the group issued a statement saying “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.”
Spanish public broadcaster RTVE, together with seven other countries, had formally requested a secret ballot to vote on Israel’s participation. On Thursday, RTVE said it would boycott next’s year’s event and would not broadcast the semi-finals or the contest itself, to be held in Vienna.
“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 organization and confirms the political pressure surrounding it,” the networks said in a statement.
Public broadcasters in the Netherlands, Ireland and Slovenia joined Spain in boycotting Eurovision 2026.
The EBU on Thursday voted only to introduce new rules designed to stop governments and third parties from disproportionately promoting songs to influence voters. Some countries had raised concerns over undue promotion methods after this year’s Eurovision, when Israeli entry Yuval Raphael topped the public voting charts with her song “New Day Will Rise,” eventually placing second to Austria when the jury scores were counted. Israel has won Eurovision four times since its debut in 1973.