Will Israel be barred from Eurovision 2026? EBU vote scheduled for December

Eurovision’s governing body is scheduled to vote in December whether Israel will be permitted to participate in the iconic song contest in 2026.

Israel has been participating since 1973 and won the competition four times, most recently in 2018.

However, following the Hamas Oct. 7 massacre in 2023 and the ongoing Gaza war, a growing number of European broadcasters and artists are calling for a boycott against Israel. Countries like Slovenia, Ireland and Spain have warned that they will not participate next year if Israel is permitted to participate. 

Amid the ongoing Gaza war criticism, Israeli participants have reportedly received unofficial proposals that include agreeing to a temporary pullout from the competition until the war in Gaza ends. Another unofficial option being discussed is to offer Israel the possibility to participate under a neutral flag.

This option has been previously offered to Russian athletes and musicians due to the Ukraine war. Unnamed sources told Ynet News that these informal proposals could spare Israel from what they called a “humiliating disqualification,” which happened to Russia after it invaded Ukraine in 2022. 

However, unlike Russia, Israel did not start the war, which began when Hamas terrorists invaded the southern part of the country on Oct. 7, 2023, massacring 1,200 people and kidnapping 251.

In response to the unofficial report, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) responded that it “has not made any proposals to Kan [Israel’s official broadcaster] regarding participation in next year’s Eurovision Song Contest. The consultation with the wider EBU membership is ongoing, and no decisions will be made until the process concludes.

The EBU did admit that its meeting in Geneva will discuss “the geopolitical situation and country participation.” The meeting is scheduled to take place in Geneva.

Israel is not expected to accept to any of the two mentioned unofficial options. There are concerns in Jerusalem that a one-year suspension from Eurovision could potentially pave the path towards a permanent ban. 

In May, some 70 former Eurovision contestants demanded in a joint letter a boycott against Israel, equating Israeli self-defense against Hamas with “genocide” in Gaza. 

“We, the undersigned former Eurovision participants, urge all members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to demand the exclusion of KAN, the Israeli public broadcaster, from the Eurovision Song Contest. KAN is complicit in Israel’s genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza and the decades-long regime of apartheid and military occupation against the entire Palestinian people,” the letter stated. 

The EBU has so far stressed that it wishes to remain a non-political organization that focuses on music. However, another unofficial proposal has been to demand that the Israeli public broadcasting corporation issues a public statement where it distances itself from the Israeli government and the ongoing war in Gaza. This is also not seen as a realistic scenario according to sources close to the Israeli broadcaster. Most Israelis across the political spectrum, including critics of the Netanyahu government, believe that Israel has been fighting a just war of self-defense against an enemy that openly calls for the murder of all Jews. 

Yuval Raphael, a survivor of the Nova Music Festival massacre, secured second place for Israel this year at the Eurovision final in Switzerland in May despite widespread anti-Israel protests. Raphael’s song “New Day Will Rise” received the highest score from the European public. 

“Thank you, Europe. Am Yisrael Chai (The People of Israel Live),” Raphael said after the results in May.