Eurovision chiefs face thorny question of whether Israel should take part in the 2026 song contest

GENEVA (AP) — Organizers of the Eurovision Song Contest, the feel-good pop music gala that draws more than 100 million viewers every year, are meeting Thursday to tackle a bitter and divisive issue: Whether Israel should be allowed to participate in the 2026 competition.

The European Broadcasting Union, a group of public broadcasters from 56 countries that runs the competition, is holding a general assembly, with some countries calling for Israel to be excluded over alleged interference in contest voting and its conduct of the war against the militant Hamas group in Gaza.

Experts predict delegates won’t reach a united position on the issue at EBU headquarters in Geneva and it’s not clear whether a vote will be called. That would mean broadcasters may have to decide, on their own or as a breakaway group, whether to take part as individual countries.

“Eurovision is becoming a bit of a fractured event,” said Paul Jordan, an expert on the contest known as Dr. Eurovision. “The slogan is ‘United by Music’ … unfortunately it’s disunited through politics.”

“It’s become quite a messy and toxic situation,” he added.

Divided over politics

The contest, whose 70th edition is scheduled for Vienna in May, pits acts from dozens of nations against one another for the continent’s musical crown.

It strives to put pop before politics, but has repeatedly been embroiled in world events. Russia was expelled in 2022 after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The war in Gaza has been its biggest challenge, with pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrating against Israel outside the last two Eurovision contests in Basel, Switzerland, in May and Malmo, Sweden, in 2024.

The war in Gaza has also exposed rifts in the European broadcasting world. Austria, which is set to host after Viennese singer JJ won in May with “Wasted Love,” supports Israel’s participation. Germany, too, is said to back Israel.

Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain are among the countries that have threatened to sit out the contest if Israel is allowed to take part.

Opponents of Israel’s participation criticize the conduct of the war in Gaza, which has left more than 70,000 people dead, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which operates under the Hamas-run government and whose detailed records are viewed as generally reliable by the international community.

Israel’s government has repeatedly defended its campaign as a response to the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas-led militants that started the war. The militants killed some 1,200 people — mostly civilians — in the attack and took 251 hostage.

Voting process is complex

Israel also has faced allegations of interference in the voting process in Eurovision.

It’s not clear whether a decrease in violence in Gaza, where a U.S.-brokered ceasefire is holding, or EBU plans to change voting processes to guard against political interference will be enough to placate some broadcasters who are on the fence over the issue.

EBU said officials at Thursday’s meeting will be asked to consider that package of new measures, including reducing the number of votes per payment method, and a return of “professional juries” to the semifinals.

A vote on participation will only take place if member broadcasters decide those steps are not sufficient to protect the “neutrality and impartiality” of the contest, the broadcasting union said in an email on Wednesday.

Members have until mid-December to confirm their participation next year, and a final list will be announced by Christmas, it said.

Different scenarios are possible

Eurovision expert Dean Vuletic said a boycott by any EU member country would be significant because they are “not dictatorships” and are meant, like Israel, to share values of democracy, human rights and diversity.

“It would be the biggest boycott of Eurovision ever. There have been boycotts in the past, but they have been usually bilateral,” said Vuletic, author of “Postwar Europe and the Eurovision Song Contest.”

The least likely scenario, he said, would be for Israel to decide unilaterally sit out: The country’s national broadcaster, Kan, has made no such announcement.

The fallout of a boycott could have implications for viewership and money at a time when many broadcasters are under financial pressure from government funding cuts and the advent of social media that has steered away eyeballs.

The countries threatening to walk away include some big names in the Eurovision world.

Spain is part of the “Big Five” of large-market countries that contribute the most to the contest. Ireland has won seven times, a record it shares with Sweden, while Iceland has the highest-percentage viewing audience of any country, according to Vuletic.

The controversy over Israel’s 2026 participation threatens to overshadow the return next year of three countries — Bulgaria, Moldova and Romania — after periods of absence due to financial and artistic reasons.

“There are no winners here. Regardless of what happens — whether Israel is in or out, whether countries stay or go — it’s not what Eurovision should be. It’s meant to be joyous and about bringing people together despite our politics,” Jordan said. “Unfortunately it’s become, I think, a bit of a political football.”

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Lawless reported from London.