Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands and Slovenia have announced that they will boycott Eurovision 2026 after Israel were allowed to compete.
The nations had called for Israel to be kicked out of the show due to the war in Gaza and accusations of unfair voting in this year’s show.
Despite worldwide calls for Israel to be removed from the competition, members approved of them performing following a vote by the European Broadcasting Union’s (EBU).
In a secret ballot, the EBU decided there was “no need for a further vote on participation” after the competition’s voting rules were tightened last month to limit the influence of governments on the results.
Had the EBU voted in favour of further votes on participation, it is widely expected that a vote on Israel’s participation would have taken place.
A statement from the EBU on Thursday read: “A large majority of members agreed that there was no need for a further vote on participation and that the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 should proceed as planned, with the additional safeguards in place.”
In response, Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland and Slovenia all announced they would be boycotting next year’s contest in protest over Israel’s participation.
Spanish broadcaster RTVE added: “The board of directors of RTVE agreed last September that Spain would withdraw from Eurovision if Israel was part of it.
“This withdrawal also means that RTVE will not broadcast the Eurovision 2026 final… nor the preliminary semi-finals.”
Dutch broadcaster Avrotros added that ‘participation under the current circumstances is incompatible with the public values that are essential to us’.
irish broadcaster RTE said in a statement that it “feels that 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.”
“RTÉ remains deeply concerned by the targeted killing of journalists in Gaza during the conflict and the continued denial of access to international journalists to the territory,” the broadcaster added.
Meanwhile, the Belgian and Icelandic broadcasters have both said they will decide in the coming days whether to take part in next year’s Eurovision, the BBC reports.