The European Broadcasting Union, which organizes the Eurovision Song Contest, announced Friday that its member broadcasters will vote in November on whether Israel should be allowed to participate in next year’s competition, amid growing calls for the country’s exclusion over the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza.
Spokesperson Dave Goodman said that the EBU board has sent a letter to members notifying them that the vote will take place during an extraordinary general meeting held online in early November.
The decision will focus on whether Kan, Israel’s public broadcaster and EBU member, should take part in the contest. An “absolute majority” will be required for any exclusion to pass, Goodman added.
Several countries, including Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and Spain, have threatened to boycott Eurovision unless Israel is barred from the competition over the Gaza war.
Eurovision, often described as a musical “Olympics of pop,” sees performers from European nations and beyond compete under their national flags for continental recognition.
The contest has long been a stage where politics and regional tensions sometimes surface.
In 2024, organizers asked Israel to alter the lyrics of its entry, initially titled “October Rain,” which referenced Hamas’ cross-border attack on October 7, 2023, that claimed roughly 1,200 Israeli lives and sparked the war. The song was retitled “Hurricane,” and singer Eden Golan was permitted to continue competing.
Dean Vuletic, a historian of Eurovision, said, “This is one of the biggest crises that Eurovision has ever faced because it has the potential to really cement division within the organization. If we have two blocs, one which is threatening a boycott and another which is remaining steadfast in its support of Israel, then this is potentially the most serious crisis that the contest has faced.”
While Germany and Austria have expressed support for Israel’s participation, other broadcasters, including the BBC, have yet to announce their stance.
Vuletic also pointed to past instances when countries were excluded, such as the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s due to U.N. sanctions during the Balkan wars, and more recently Belarus in 2021 over media crackdowns and Russia in 2022 following its invasion of Ukraine.
He noted, “In both cases, we didn’t see such strong divisions within the EBU.”
Kan, Israel’s broadcaster, posted on X Thursday that it hopes the contest “will continue to uphold its cultural and non-political identity.”
Austria’s Foreign Minister Beate Meini-Reisinger, meanwhile, cautioned last week that some nations might boycott the 2026 contest in Vienna.
She stressed that Eurovision is “not an instrument for sanctions,” and added that she had written to European colleagues appealing to find ways to “improve the situation in Israel and Gaza” collaboratively.
The Eurovision Song Contest 2026 is scheduled for May in Vienna, a privilege awarded to the previous year’s winner. This year, the contest took place in Basel, Switzerland, with Austria’s JJ winning for the song “Wasted Love.”
