Israel is in Eurovision 2026 - Spain, Ireland, Netherlands, Slovenia pull out

Updated 10.17pm

Israel will be allowed to take part in the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest, organisers decided Thursday, announcing a series of measures meant to address criticism over the country's participation.

European Broadcasting Union members showed "clear support for reforms to reinforce trust and protect (the) neutrality" of the contest, "allowing all Members to participate", the organisation said in a statement.

The decision drew immediate boycott announcements by Ireland, the Netherlands, and Spain. This was later followed by Slovenia.

"After weighing all perspectives, AVROTROS concludes that, under the current circumstances, participation cannot be reconciled with the public values that are fundamental to our organisation," said the Dutch broadcaster.

Spain, one of the so-called “big five” nations that make the biggest financial contributions to the EBU, said they would boycott the contest.

"The situation in Gaza, despite the ceasefire and the approval of the peace process, and the use of the contest for political goals by Israel, make it increasingly difficult to keep Eurovision a neutral cultural event," Spanish broadcaster RTVE's secretary general Alfonso Morales said in a statement.

Irish public broadcaster RTE said it will not participate in the 2026 contest and will not even broadcast the competition.

"Ireland's 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."

Slovenia's broadcaster RTV said they were "committed to upholding ethical principles and expects that equal rules and standards apply to all EBU members and all participating countries."

Belgium's broadcaster said it would "take a position in the coming days".

Israel's President Isaac Herzog welcomed the EBU decision and said his country "deserves to be represented on every stage around the world".

The EBU members were meeting behind closed doors amid tight security in Geneva.

Culture minister Owen Bonnici had said Malta would still participate if Israel is included in the line up. However, there were several dissenting voices who had called for Malta to pull out if Israel participates.

Iceland has previously threatened to withdraw, while others, including Belgium, Finland and Sweden, have also said they were considering a boycott over the situation in Gaza.

In the run-up to the meeting in Geneva, EBU members appeared divided on the issue, with Israel winning support notably from Germany.

While Eurovision is supposed to be above politics, Chancellor Friedrich Merz -- a strong Israel supporter -- suggested in October that he would back Germany's withdrawal if Israel were excluded.

Eurovision voting arrangements came under scrutiny after Israel's Yuval Raphael -- a survivor of Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack -- surged into second place after the public vote at the last edition this year.

Similar concerns about voter manipulation were raised the previous year when Israel's Eden Golan was catapulted into fifth place despite lacklustre scoring from national juries.

Eurovision entries are scored first by professional juries, then the public by phone, text or online, which often radically alters the leader board.

Countries cannot vote for their own entry, but AVROTROS accused Israel of "proven interference" at the last event this year by lobbying the public overseas to vote for it.

'Trust and transparency'

The EBU had planned to convene member broadcasters in November for a vote on the issue.

But a few days after the October 10 announcement of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, the EBU postponed a decision until its ordinary general assembly on December 4 and 5.

Last month, in an apparent bid to avoid a contentious vote, the EBU announced that it had changed Eurovision voting rules to address members' concerns and to strengthen "trust and transparency".

Austria's public broadcaster ORF, next year's Eurovision host, has expressed hope that a consensus can be reached so that it can host "as many participants as possible".

Israel would not have been the first country excluded from Eurovision.

Russia was barred from taking part following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, while Belarus was excluded a year earlier after the contested re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko.

Nordic broadcasters from Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Iceland issued a joint statement saying they "supported" the EBU's decision to "address critical shortcomings" in the voting system.

Despite that, Iceland's RÚV public broadcaster said it would not make a final decision on its participation until next week, the BBC reported.