Several European countries have announced that they will not participate in the next Eurovision Song Contest if Israel, which has taken part in the annual competition for half a century, is allowed to continue.

On Tuesday, Spain joined the Netherlands, Ireland and Slovenia in denouncing Israel’s war on Gaza, which has killed nearly 65,000 people since October 2023, with many thousands more lost under the rubble and presumed dead, and announced that they will not take part if Israel continues to do so.

What is Eurovision?

Eurovision is an international song competition which takes place every year, primarily in European countries, and is televised. It has been running since 1956 and is one of the world’s longest-running and most-watched non-sporting TV events.

Each country performs an original song and the winner is determined by voting. The contest is organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), a collective of public broadcasters in more than 35 countries.

Any country which has a broadcaster operating within Europe as part of the EBU can participate in Eurovision. Australia joined in 2015, Armenia in 2006 and Azerbaijan in 2011.

The winner of each contest hosts the following year competition.

The next contest will take place in May 2026 in Vienna.

Israel and Eurovision: a brief history

Israel first took part in Eurovision in 1973 because its national broadcaster is a member of the EBU. Back then, Israel’s national broadcaster was the Israel Broadcasting Authority; now it is the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation, or Kan, and is still part of the EBU.

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Arabic-speaking countries have only taken part very rarely: Morocco participated only once in 1980 – which was the only time an Arabic song featured in the contest. Tunisia and Lebanon withdrew in 1977 and 2005 after refusing to air Israeli content.

Israel’s participation in Eurovision has frequently met protests, but objections have intensified since the start of its war on Gaza in October 2023, following the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel.

For the 2024 competition, which was held in Malmo, Sweden, the EBU rejected Israel’s entry for being too political. The entry was a song called October Rain, referencing the victims of the October 7 Hamas attack, during which 1,139 people were killed.

While initially reluctant, Kan changed Israel’s entry to a romantic ballad. Israel was ranked fifth in the competition.

Israel also participated in the 2025 competition, which was held in Basel, Switzerland, finishing in second place.

Which countries are boycotting Eurovision over Israel?

So far, five European countries have said they may not participate in Eurovision if Israel does.

Iceland

Iceland’s broadcaster RUV said that it is possible that Iceland would withdraw from Eurovision if Israel participates in the competition, according to a news report published by the RUV website on September 9.

Ireland

On September 11, Irish national broadcaster RTE issued a statement announcing it would not participate in Eurovision in 2026 if Israel participates.

“RTE feels that Ireland’s participation would be unconscionable given the ongoing and appalling loss of lives in Gaza,” the statement said.

Netherlands

On September 12, Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS, one of the public broadcasters that funds and organises Eurovision, announced that it will not participate in the competition in Vienna if Israel takes part.

It cited the “ongoing and severe human suffering in Gaza” as the reason.

The statement added, “The broadcaster also expresses deep concern about the serious erosion of press freedom: the deliberate exclusion of independent international reporting and the many casualties among journalists.”

Slovenia

Also on September 12, Slovenian broadcaster RTV Slovenia announced that it will also not participate in Eurovision if Israel takes part in the competition.

Spain

On Tuesday this week, Spanish state broadcaster RTVE’s board voted to withdraw from Eurovision if Israel participates.

Spain is the first country among Eurovision’s “big five” to make such an announcement. The big five, which also includes the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and France, are countries that automatically qualify for Eurovision’s final round regardless of how they perform in previous rounds.

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This announcement came a day after Spain’s Culture Minister Ernest Urtasun told the local television programme, La Hora de La 1, that the country would consider “measures” if Israel was “not expelled”. Urtasun added that Spain had already formally requested Israel’s exclusion from Eurovision.

How has Eurovision responded?

Eurovision typically stresses political neutrality.

Martin Green, director of Eurovision, released a statement saying the organisation is “still consulting” with its partners on how to deal with “participation and geopolitical tensions around the Eurovision Song Contest”.

Green said, “We understand the concerns and deeply held views around the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. It is up to each member to decide if they want to take part in the contest, and we would respect any decision broadcasters make.”

Will this divide Eurovision?

Experts say that while it is difficult to determine whether the boycott will divide Eurovision, it could keep awareness about the war in Gaza strong as Eurovision is televised throughout Europe and beyond.

Christina Oberg, a professor at the Department of Marketing and Tourism Studies at the Linnaeus University in Sweden, told Al Jazeera that the original ambition of Eurovision was to foster collaboration and peace in Europe after World War II.

In an article she published in June 2025 about the politicisation of Eurovision, Oberg said that Eurovision had managed for decades to uphold its “inclusive European vision” despite ongoing regional tensions until the first “real shift” was seen when the EBU banned Russia following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

It stated at the time, “The Eurovision Song Contest is a non-political cultural event. The EBU is however concerned about current events in Ukraine and will continue to closely monitor the situation.”

“This means that ESC – or more rightfully EBU made itself a political player,” Oberg said. “Then, based on the Gaza war, questions arise why IBU does not act the same. I don’t want to say what is right or wrong here, but there are issues in the inconsistency.”

She added that there will probably will be peer pressure on other countries to issue statements similar to those issued by Spain and other European countries recently.

“I don’t see this as a divide, more as country-level decisions, rather than as some countries being for or against.”

She added that while the countries’ announcements to withdraw from the competition are mostly symbolic, they do bring attention to the issue.

“We should not downplay how [Eurovision] is given a lot of space in media – hence the boycotting brings attention to questions to the broader public.”