Members of the European Broadcasting Union will hold a vote in November to determine if Israel will participate in next year’s Eurovision Song Contest.
“A vote on participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 will take place at an extraordinary meeting of the EBU’s General Assembly to be held online in early November,” an EBU spokesperson told Reuters on Friday, later clarifying that the vote is to determine if Israeli public broadcaster KAN will be allowed to participate.
Israel’s participation in Eurovision has come into question over the ongoing war in Gaza, with several broadcasters threatening to pull out of the event if Israel competes. On Sept. 16, Spanish broadcaster RTVE voted to withdraw from the contest, which is set to be held in Vienna next May, should Israel participate. Ireland, the Netherlands, Iceland and Slovenia have also made similar statements.
In a letter sent to EBU members on Thursday as reported by The Guardian, president Delphine Ernotte Cunci wrote that there is an “unprecedented diversity of views” on if Israel should be allowed to participate and the issue would therefore require “a broader democratic basis.”
In a statement, KAN said that it hopes “the Eurovision Song Contest will continue to uphold its cultural and non-political identity.”
The statement continued that KAN’s disqualification “would be especially troubling ahead of the 70th edition of the song contest, which was founded as a symbol of unity, solidarity and fellowship. Any such move could have wide-ranging implications for the competition and the values for which the EBU stands.”
Since the current conflict in Gaza began after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel, the country’s participation in Eurovision has faced dissent. In 2024, thousands gathered in Malmo, Sweden in protest of Israel’s participation and in Basel earlier this year, protestors attempted to rush onto the stage to disrupt Israeli singer Yuval Raphael’s performance.
As a result of the disagreement over Israel’s participation, the deadline for final confirmation of participation has already been moved to December.
