Israel will be allowed to participate in the 70th Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna in 2026. This clarification of the long-disputed question was reached by the General Assembly of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) in Geneva. According to Avrotros, the member broadcasters adopted a package of rule changes that had been communicated in advance. These changes aim to safeguard the competition’s neutrality, making the previously suggested direct vote on Israel’s participation apparently unnecessary.
Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands and Slovenia will boycott next year’s Eurovision Song Contest after Israel was allowed to compete. They were among several countries that had called for Israel to be excluded over the humanitarian toll of the war in Gaza, and accusations of unfair voting practices.
Despite calls for a vote on Israel’s participation, members instead approved a new set of rules intended to protect the integrity of the contest. Ireland’s national broadcaster RTE said it felt that its “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.”
“The EBU has acknowledged the political disagreements that occurred during the previous edition and has announced additional measures to prevent a repeat. However, these measures do not undo what happened during the last Song Contest,” Avrotros stated.
Israel’s President Isaac Herzog praised the decision to allow the country to compete, calling it “an appreciated gesture of solidarity, brotherhood, and cooperation, symbolising a victory over those who seek to silence Israel and spread hatred”.
He said he was “glad that Israel will participate again in Eurovision and I hope that the competition will remain one that sanctifies culture, poetry, and friendship between peoples and cross-border cultural understanding”.
He added that Israel “deserves to be represented on every stage in the world, and I am fully and actively committed to that”.
Iceland was also expected to boycott the contest, but have yet to say what they plan to do.
