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The first ‘Big Five’ Eurovision country has voted to boycott the 2026 song contest if Israel competes.
Spain has now joined the Netherlands, Ireland, Slovenia, and Iceland in threatening withdrawal over Israel’s participation.
The remaining countries in the ‘Big Five’ include Britain, Germany, Italy, and France.
These provide the biggest financial contributions to Eurovision and automatically qualify for the final round.
The Spanish state broadcaster RTVE announced the decision following a board vote on Tuesday.
Spain’s Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, has also previously called for Israel to be banned from the competition.
Which countries are boycotting Eurovision?
Last week, the Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS said it could ‘no longer justify Israel’s participation in the current situation, given the ongoing and severe human suffering in Gaza.’
‘Should the EBU decide not to admit Israel, AVROTROS will gladly take part next year,’ it continued.
They also said the Israeli government was using the contest as ‘a political instrument.’
This came after Irish broadcaster RTE announced that it will not take part if Israel participates.
Why are countries threatening to boycott Eurovision?
An RTE statement released earlier this week said that at the General Assembly of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) in July, ‘a number of EBU members raised concerns about the participation of Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest’.
It added: ‘RTE wishes to thank the EBU for the extensive consultation process that was initiated on foot of that meeting, and the extension of the option to withdraw from participation without penalty to December.’
A final decision on participation will be made when the EBU reaches its decision.
Which countries are threatening to boycott Eurovision 2026 over Israel?
Spain
Spanish Culture Minister Ernest Urtasun has threatened that the country will withdraw from Eurovision 2026 if Israel is allowed to participate.
‘I don’t think we can normalise Israel’s participation in international events as if nothing is happening,’ Urtasun said, as per EuroNews.
‘Events like Eurovision [bring] a certain representation of a country. In Eurovision’s case, it is not an individual artist who participates but someone who participates on behalf of that country’s citizens.’
Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez also called for Israel’s ban.
‘Spain’s commitment to human rights must be constant and consistent, including in Europe,’ he said.
‘If Russia was required not to participate in Eurovision after the invasion of Ukraine, neither should Israel. We cannot allow double standards, not even in culture.’
Slovenia
Slovenia‘s national broadcaster RTVSLO said in a statement: ‘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 EBU is currently holding talks with its members regarding Israel’s possible participation in the future competition,’ they concluded.
Iceland
Icelandic broadcaster RÚV has also expressed reservations about whether the country will be part of the contest next year, depending on EBU’s decision on Israel, as reported by Iceland’s publication Visir.
The broadcaster explained: ‘It is RTÉ’s position that Ireland will not take part in the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest, if the participation of Israel goes ahead, and the final decision regarding Ireland’s participation will be made once the EBU’s decision is made.
RTÉ feels that Ireland’s participation would be unconscionable given the ongoing and appalling loss of lives in Gaza.
‘RTÉ 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.’
Last year, Israel’s contestant Yuval Raphael and her song New Day Will Rise finished in second place, winning the public televote.
The song contest has always expressed political neutrality, but in recent years, there have been protests against Israel’s continued military action in Gaza, which was launched in response to the attack by Hamas militants on 7 October 2023, leaving roughly 1,200 people dead.
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