EBU postpones vote on Israel's participation in Eurovision 2026

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has decided to postpone until December the vote on Israel's participation in the Eurovision 2026 contest, which will take place in Austria. The decision comes "in light of recent developments in the Middle East", according to the AFP agency. The EBU announced that discussions will be included on the agenda of the Ordinary Winter General Assembly, scheduled for December, instead of the extraordinary session initially scheduled for early November. "The Council decided to include this matter on the agenda of the Ordinary Winter General Assembly, instead of organizing an extraordinary session", the statement quoted by AFP shows. The organization specifies that the postponement will allow its members "to have an open and face-to-face discussion on the participation in Eurovision 2026".

• Boycott calls and mixed reactions in Europe

The EBU's decision comes amid tensions. Before the announcement of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, several European countries, including Spain, Ireland, Slovenia, Iceland and the Netherlands, announced that they would not participate in the 2026 edition if Israel was allowed to compete. Dutch public broadcaster Avrotros justified its position by citing "serious violations of press freedom" in Gaza and "proven political interference" in the previous edition. Other countries, including Belgium, Sweden and Finland, have said they are considering a boycott.

• Austria and Germany against exclusion

Host country Austria expressed regret over these calls for a boycott, while German Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer warned of the risk of politicizing the contest: "Excluding Israel today means going against this fundamental idea and turning a celebration of understanding between peoples into a court of law," the German official said, quoted by AFP. Eurovision, originally conceived as an apolitical cultural competition, has become the scene of geopolitical disputes in recent years. Russia was excluded in 2022, following the invasion of Ukraine, and Belarus had already lost the right to participate in 2021, following the contested re-election of President Aleksandr Lukashenko.

In 2025, Israeli singer Yuval Raphael, a survivor of the October 7 attack, came second in an edition won by public vote. The December meeting will be decisive in establishing the official list of participants for Eurovision 2026, which will be held in Vienna. Until then, the EBU stressed that it will continue the dialogue with all member countries, in the spirit of respect and cultural cooperation.

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