Spanish state broadcaster RTVE’s board voted on Tuesday to withdraw from the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest to be held in May in Vienna if Israel takes part in the event.
Spain is the fifth country to make such a pledge, after the Netherlands, Slovenia, Iceland and Ireland, and is the first of the so-called “Big Five” — a group that also includes Britain, Germany, Italy and France — to do so.
Belgium has also threatened not to take part if Israel is allowed to participate.
These countries automatically qualify for the contest’s final round.
The measure, proposed by RTVE President Jose Pablo Lopez, garnered 10 votes in favor, four against and one abstention in the 15-member board, the broadcaster said in a statement.
Eurovision, which stresses its political neutrality, has faced controversy this year linked to Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
Several countries had urged the European Broadcasting Union, an alliance of public broadcasters that organizes and co-produces the annual event, to exclude Israel from the 2025 edition. Israeli contestant Yuval Raphael ended up finishing second.
Austrian singer JJ, who won this year, has also called for Israel’s exclusion in 2026.
On Monday, Israel rejected calls for it to sit out the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest, with the CEO of Kan, the country’s public broadcaster, saying that there was “no reason why Israel should not continue to be a significant part of this cultural event.”
It was the first public response from Kan to the growing number of countries threatening to withdraw if Israel is allowed to participate.
The European Broadcasting Union held a meeting in London in July in which Israel’s participation next year was discussed, but the union declined to vote on the matter then, pushing off the decision until later this year. The EBU said at the time that it would consult with members and experts before issuing a full report this fall, ahead of the next organization-wide meeting slated for December.
Ahead of the 2024 and 2025 competitions, the EBU faced heavy pressure from a number of countries to bar Israel from the competition, but it refused to do so, saying that the Eurovision is a contest among public broadcasters, not governments. Some public broadcasters aired anti-Israel protest messages before and during the broadcasts of the contest.
As of now, Israel is among 22 countries that have expressed interest in participating in the 2026 contest in Austria, but several countries have said they would not make a final decision on their participation until after the assembly in December.
International pressure continues to mount on the Israeli government to end the nearly two-year war that was sparked by Hamas’s invasion and massacre in Israel on October 7, 2023, and to urgently address the humanitarian crisis there.