The members of the European Broadcasting Union are slated to hold a vote in early November to decide whether Israel should be allowed to participate in the 2026 Eurovision, slated to be held in Vienna, as a growing chorus of countries calls for the Jewish state to be kicked out due to the ongoing war in Gaza.
Asked by The Times of Israel if a supermajority of its 68 members would be required to kick Israel out of the contest, the EBU confirmed Thursday the online vote in early November will be only by a simple majority — meaning if over 50 percent of members decide so, Israel will be removed from the competition.
A letter sent Thursday by the EBU to its members, first published by the Austrian Krone newspaper, noted an “unprecedented diversity of views” on the topic of Israel’s participation, after EBU vice president Petr Dvorak held discussions on the issue with member broadcasters over the past two months. Following those discussions, the EBU “recognized that it would not be possible to reach a consensual position on KAN’s participation,” the letter read.
Since it has “never faced a divisive situation like this before,” the letter continued, the EBU board members “agreed that this question merited a broader democratic basis for a decision, whereby all members should be given a voice,” scheduling such a vote for early November, ahead of a December deadline for countries to determine their participation.
In response, Israel’s Kan public broadcaster issued a statement expressing “hope that the Eurovision Song Contest will continue to maintain its cultural and apolitical character.” It noted that the competition has “stood as a symbol of unity, solidarity and fellowship,” and warned that booting Israel from the contest “could be a step with wide-ranging implications,” without elaborating.
Kan pointed out that the EBU rules “clearly state that extraordinary decisions of this type require a majority of no less than 75% of the participants in the General Assembly.”
Spain, Ireland, Slovenia, the Netherlands and Iceland have all said that they will drop out of next year’s Eurovision if Israel is allowed to compete, and a number of other countries have threatened to follow suit. France, Germany, Austria and Australia have rejected the boycott calls.
This year’s edition in Basel, Switzerland, drew in 166 million viewers across 37 countries.
Pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel activists protested in Malmo, Sweden, in 2024 and in Basel in May over Israel’s participation amid its devastating offensive in Gaza.
Despite the war and antagonism from some of the other contestants, Israel’s Yuval Raphael finished in second place overall at the 2025 contest in Basel, Switzerland, and first in the public vote, as Austria’s JJ took the overall win at the annual competition. Raphael received the most points from the public, 297, out of any of the 26 finalists, but was only 14th place in the professional jury vote, landing Israel with a second-place finish.
The ongoing war against Hamas has leveled much of the Strip and left much of the population in a dire humanitarian situation, with Palestinian officials reporting more than 65,000 dead. The numbers do not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
Recent weeks have seen mounting calls for cultural and sporting boycotts against Israel.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.