European countries have announced a boycott of Israel due to its participation in Eurovision. What you need to know

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has announced that Israel will be able to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2026, despite calls to suspend the country due to the armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and vote fraud at the previous contest. In response to this decision, broadcasters in Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands and Slovenia announced a boycott of the 70th anniversary competition in Vienna. How the politicization of Eurovision has embroiled Western countries — in the Izvestia article

Protest against Israeli involvement

• The EBU General Assembly has decided to retain the right of the Israeli television company KAN to apply for participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026. The vote was called after several major broadcasters opposed Israel's participation and accused the country of neglecting universal human values and manipulating the vote. In response to the EBU's decision, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain announced a boycott of the contest.

• The demand to exclude Israel from the Eurovision Song Contest was a reaction to the ongoing Middle East conflict and the humanitarian disaster in Gaza. After the outbreak of hostilities, Spain, Ireland and Slovenia were among the first to officially declare recognition of the State of Palestine. The Dutch authorities have not yet made such a decision.

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Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands and Slovenia announced a boycott of the international song contest.

• Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS stated in September that "the suffering in the Gaza Strip, the suppression of press freedom and political interference during the last contest" were incompatible with the company's fundamental values. Following her, other Dutch broadcasters refused to submit applications, while they will continue to broadcast the Eurovision Song Contest to their viewers.

• Spanish broadcaster RTVE has stated that it has lost confidence in Eurovision, which has become "a festival dominated by geopolitical interests." In response, the head of the Israeli national broadcaster KAN said that an attempt to exclude her from participating in Eurovision could be regarded as a "cultural boycott." Earlier, some countries also spoke out against the participation of Israeli athletes in international competitions.

• The organizers of the contest also faced blackmail from other countries. In particular, Germany claimed that it would also withdraw from the competition if a representative of Israel was not allowed to participate, but so far this has not been confirmed. Germany, like Spain, is one of the "Big Five" broadcasters that bear the bulk of the costs of hosting the contest, along with France, Italy and the United Kingdom.

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Changing the voting conditions

• The EBU has agreed to change the voting system for Eurovision in the hope of restoring confidence in the contest. The new rules should stop disproportionate advertising of participants, which is carried out by third parties, including governments and government agencies, and may affect the outcome of the vote.

• The maximum number of votes that can be cast by phone, SMS, or online has been halved to support no more than 10 speeches. The organizers also announced increased technical security measures and the return of a professional jury to the semifinals for the first time since 2022.

• Changes to the voting system were made after the organizers confirmed the falsification of the results by the Israeli government at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2025. Then the Israeli singer Yuval Rafael took second place at the competition in Basel.

How the rules of Eurovision were violated

• The reduction of the role of the jury of professional musicians, which has now been decided to be restored, occurred after the scandal in 2022, when unprecedented violations were revealed. As a result of the manipulation of voting by several countries for the Ukrainian band Kalush Orchestra, they won by an unexpectedly large margin.

• Few people doubted that the vote was due to political considerations, because the obvious favorite of the contest was the British musician Sam Ryder. After checking the outrage of the audience, the EBU conducted an audit, and the votes of the "national juries" of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania and San Marino were annulled.

• The performance of the Ukrainian band was remembered for another scandal. Contrary to the requirements of the contest to ban any political statements, the group's leader Oleg Psyuk appealed to the audience from the stage to help the Ukrainian army. The organizers, despite the clear violation of the rules of Eurovision, said that no action would be taken against the participant.