EBU postpones vote on Israel’s participation in Eurovision song competition following Gaza ceasefire

Following the ceasefire in Gaza, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) on Monday canceled an extraordinary online meeting that had been scheduled for November to vote on Israel’s participation in the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, Austria.

“The Board agreed to put the issue on the agenda of its ordinary Winter General Assembly, which will be taking place in December,” the EBU said in a statement, citing recent “developments” in the Middle East.

It remains unclear whether a vote on Israel’s participation will still be held at the December assembly, where the decision had originally been scheduled to take place. The EBU told Reuters that further details about the session will be shared with member broadcasters in the coming weeks.

In September, a letter from EBU President Delphine Ernotte-Cunci acknowledged that the executive board recognized that it could not reach a consensual position on Kan’s participation in the competition.

“Given that the Union has never faced a divisive situation like this before, the Board agreed that this question merited a broader democratic basis for a decision,” she wrote in the letter.

Following the Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, massacre and the ensuing war in Gaza, several European broadcasters and artists have called for a boycott against Israel's participation in Eurovision.

Ireland, Spain and Slovenia, among others, threatened to drop their country's participation in the song contest in 2026 unless Israel was booted from the competition.  

Last May, ahead of the Eurovision Song Contest, 72 former participants signed an open letter to the EBU calling for Israel’s exclusion from the competition and for its public broadcaster, Kan News, to be barred from covering the event. The letter accused Israel of being “complicit” in what it described as “genocide,” “apartheid,” and “occupation.”

However, the Austrian government, which is set to host the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest, previously warned that it would withdraw from hosting if Israel were boycotted from the competition.

“It is unacceptable that Austria, of all countries, would be the one to prevent Jewish artists from coming to Vienna,” a senior official from Austria’s ruling party, the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), said last week.

The Austrian national broadcaster, ORF, which will host the 2026 contest, told Reuters it welcomed the EBU’s decision to postpone the vote.

Similarly, Germany has condemned the ongoing attempts to exclude Israel from the competition. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz addressed the issue last week.

In an interview with the flagship program of Germany’s public broadcaster ARD, Merz said, “If Israel is excluded – I will support Germany not participating. I consider it a scandal that this is even an issue. Israel belongs in Eurovision.”

Israel has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 47 times since the Jewish state made its debut in the competition in 1973. Israel has won the Eurovision four times, including in 1978, 1979, 1998 and in 2018.  

Last year, Israeli contestant Yuval Raphael won second place with overwhelming audience support for her performance, "A New Day Will Rise."