Red light for Israel: How genocide in Gaza sparked historic Eurovision boycott

By Humaira Ahad 

The Eurovision Song Contest, Europe’s most-watched cultural event, is heading into what experts call an “existential” crisis.

With nearly eight months to go before the 70th edition takes place in Vienna, the contest is overshadowed by growing calls to exclude Israel over its genocidal war on Gaza, where nearly 66,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023.

For decades, Eurovision has branded itself as “non-political.” However, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the alliance of 113 public broadcasters in 56 countries that runs the event, now faces unprecedented pressure.

Several national broadcasters, including those from Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Iceland, and Slovenia, have declared that they will not take part if Israel is allowed to participate in the prestigious global competition.

In a statement, Eurovision Director Martin Green said the EBU is “still consulting” with members on how to “manage participation and geopolitical tensions around the Eurovision Song Contest.”

“We understand the concerns and deeply held views around the ‘ongoing conflict’ in the Middle East,” Green said. “It is up to each member to decide if they want to take part in the contest, and we would respect any decision broadcasters make.”

Experts say the scale of this backlash amid the ongoing genocidal war is without precedent.

“This is the first time you’ve got a group of countries saying they won’t participate because of another country,” Paul Jordan, a Eurovision analyst, was quoted as saying.

“It’s the most serious challenge the contest has had since its founding.”

Eurovision contest

The Eurovision Song Contest is one of the world’s longest-running televised cultural events, first held in 1956.

Each participating country submits an original song, performed live, with winners decided by a combination of jury and audience votes. It represents virtually every genre of popular music.

The competition organized by the EBU was originally centered in Europe, but it has now expanded its membership across continents. Armenia joined the music contest in 2006, Azerbaijan in 2011, and Australia in 2015.

Eurovision is watched by millions of people worldwide as the winner earns widespread recognition and a glass trophy in the shape of a microphone.

The winning country hosts the following year’s edition. The 2026 contest is scheduled for May 12-16 in Vienna.

Boycott front

The first warning to boycott the song contest came from Slovenia. In September, Slovenia’s public broadcaster Radio Televizija Slovenija (RTVSLO) said it would not participate in Eurovision 2026 “due to the genocide in Gaza” if Israel remained in the competition.

“At the EBU General Assembly, which was held in London at the beginning of July, RTV Slovenia presented its position that if Israel were to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest due to the genocide in Gaza,it would not participate in the competition,” the broadcaster declared.

Ireland quickly followed. On September 11, Raidio Teilifis Eireann (RTE), the Irish national broadcaster, said it would withdraw from the contest if Israel was included.

“RTE feels that Ireland’s participation would be unconscionable given the ongoing and appalling loss of lives in Gaza,” the statement read. “RTE is also deeply concerned by the targeted killing of journalists in Gaza, the denial of access to international journalists to the territory, and the plight of the remaining hostages.”

Within days, the Netherlands joined the boycott front. The Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS said on September 12 that it could “no longer justify Israel’s participation in the current situation, given the ongoing and severe human suffering in Gaza.”

It also cited concerns about censorship and interference.

“Human suffering, the suppression of press freedom and political interference are at odds with the values of public broadcasting,” the broadcaster said, adding there was “proven evidence of interference by the Israeli government” in the 2025 contest, when Israel allegedly used the event “as a political instrument.”

Iceland also raised the possibility of a boycott in the event of Israeli participation.

Stefan Eiriksson, director of Iceland’s broadcaster RUV, said the country’s participation in Vienna was “subject to the outcome of the ongoing consultation process within the EBU, due to the participation of the Israeli broadcaster KAN.”

Eiriksson stressed RUV “reserve the right to withdraw from participation in it if the EBU does not respond satisfactorily.”

The most important intervention came from Spain. On September 16, the board of directors of Radio Television Española (RTVE), Spain’s public broadcaster, voted overwhelmingly to withdraw from Eurovision if Israel participates.

Jose Pablo Lopez, RTVE’s president, said the decision was made about humanitarian concerns.

“The genocide unfolding does not allow us to look the other way,” Lopez said. “Eurovision, while an apolitical contest, is often used by governments for international image-building. Silence is not an option these days, and human rights must come first.”

He added that Spain might even refuse to air the contest at all if Israel competes. If carried out, Spain’s withdrawal would be its first absence from the Eurovision final since 1961.

Governments join the boycott

The boycott is not confined to broadcasters. Spanish Culture Minister Ernest Urtasun said earlier this month that Spain should not “normalise Israel’s participation in international events as if nothing is happening.”

“It is not an individual artist who participates but someone who participates on behalf of that country’s citizens,” Urtasun said in an interview.

He warned that if Israel is permitted in Vienna, “measures will have to be taken,” reminding that the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez had previously urged the EBU to suspend Israel from the cultural event.

On the same day, Spain joined the Netherlands, Ireland and Slovenia in issuing a joint statement denouncing Israel’s genocide in Gaza and announcing they would not compete in Eurovision if Israel did.

Gaza genocide

At the heart of the widely expanding boycott campaign is Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

Since October 2023, nearly 66,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s deadly war, with thousands more missing under rubble. Broadcasters cite this genocidal campaign, as well as attacks on press freedom, as incompatible with Eurovision’s founding values.

AVROTROS noted that Eurovision was founded in 1956 “to bring people together after a period of deep division and war,” adding that “peace, equality and respect” were at its core.

The broadcaster said these values were impossible to uphold “given the ongoing and severe human suffering in Gaza.”

RTE raised concerns about the “targeted killing of journalists in Gaza, and the denial of access to international journalists.”

Dozens of former Eurovision participants, including Nemo Mettler, Switzerland’s 2024 winner, have also demanded Israel’s suspension from the song competition.

Israel’s Eurovision record

This is not the first time Israel’s presence in the competition has sparked protests.

In 2024, Israel’s broadcaster KAN attempted to submit a controversial song, referencing the Al Aqsa Storm operation launched by Palestinian resistance group Hamas in response to the Zionist regime’s decades-long oppression of Palestinians. The EBU rejected the entry for being overtly political.

In 2025, Israel’s televote performance was scrutinised after reports of campaigns to alter voting surfaced.

Israeli singer Yuval Raphael's performance secured the highest number of public votes in the final, totalling 297 points. However, this surge in votes prompted scrutiny and calls for audits from several participating broadcasters.

Spain's RTVE, Belgium's VRT, and Ireland's RTE were among those requesting a breakdown of the voting numbers from the EBU.

Concerns intensified when reports emerged that the Israeli regime's public relations firm had placed advertisements across Google products, encouraging voters in participating countries to vote for Israel's entry. These ads included instructions on how to vote up to 20 times, leading to charges of politicising the voting process.

Additionally, a message thanking voters for supporting Israel was sent to individuals who had voted for others, further confirming voting irregularities.

In response to these reports, the EBU stated that it would review the voting process and consider potential reforms to ensure the integrity of future contests.

Despite the serious misconduct, Israel's entry was officially approved by the EBU, and the regime’s participation in the 2025 contest proceeded as planned.

Critics have argued that Israel repeatedly uses Eurovision for political messaging in direct violation of rules designed to keep politics out of the competition.

Meanwhile, the EBU has also faced accusations of applying double standards. Belarus was expelled from Eurovision in 2021 for rule violations. Russia was banned in 2022 following its war with Ukraine. Yet despite the Zionist regime’s genocide in Gaza and also voting discrepancies in the contest, Israel has continued to compete.

This partiality is fuelling anger among broadcasters and performers. Spain’s culture minister put it plainly, “We cannot normalise Israel’s participation as if nothing is happening.”

For now, the EBU has extended the deadline for broadcasters to confirm participation until December. A pivotal moment will come at the EBU General Assembly in Geneva on December 4-5, where members could vote on Israel’s participation.

What began in 1956 as a project to unite a divided continent is now caught in the fallout of a genocide. For broadcasters like RTVE, RTE and AVROTROS, allowing Israel to perform would make Eurovision complicit in the Gaza genocide.

The question now confronting Eurovision is clear: can a music competition founded to promote peace and unity allow Israel to perform while Gaza counts its dead?

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