4 countries to boycott Eurovision due to Israel’s continued inclusion

[Everexpanding]

In a statement released on Thursday afternoon, the Dutch broadcaster Avrotros said it would also withdraw from next year’s contest. “After weighing all perspectives, Avrotros concludes that, under the current circumstances, participation cannot be reconciled with the public values that are fundamental to our organisation.”

The Slovenian national broadcaster, RTVSLO – the first to threaten a boycott this summer – said participation “would conflict with its values of peace, equality and respect”.

Spain’s culture minister, Ernest Urtasun, backed the decision, adding: “You can’t whitewash Israel given the genocide in Gaza. Culture should be on the side of peace and justice. I’m proud of an RTVE that puts human rights before any economic interest

RTÉ 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,” the broadcaster said in a statement.

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/dec/04/ireland-spain-and-the-netherlands-to-boycott-eurovision-2026-as-israel-cleared-to-compete

I think you'll find it easn't Israel but the Israel Broadcasting Association though I defer to @CrossChecking of course. How did the IBA manipulate the vote?

I'm glad that some countries have found their backbone. Ours seems to be missing.

They got better. Israel is just getting worse.

Eurovision themselves think the Israeli state was involved, hence the voting rule changes.

Many Govts will use sport and culture to whitewash their actions.

I don't want to watch EV with the Israelis there and neither do the vast majority, a recent poll had 82% want Israel excluded, with 69% saying UK shd withdraw if Israel allowed.

The EV will be destroyed if the Israelis compete

You may well be right. But it will be the fault of racists in Europe, not Israel.

Well, Israel have killed 70k plus people in Gaza, thats on them, perhaps if they weren't, at best, gung-ho with their military strikes, they wouldn't be in this situation?
They had every right to defend themselves but not the right to have gone in and flattened the place with no concerns for anyone living there.

82% of people in the UK are not racists.

Yup. Israel have literally cheated and tried to send other songs that got banned by Eurovision. That, plus the rest of the context, should automatically mean that Israel is out. Israel was my favourite country for many years in Eurovision, but I can’t stand the current government and they are clearly using Eurovision as a propaganda platform.

You voted for brexit, didn't you?! 🙄

I wonder if any of those posters who think it"s the correct decision for countries to boycott EV because of Israel would also think they should boycott if there was a Palestinian song entered? Or would that be ok, because not all Palestinians are Hamas?

Definitely not.

Gosh! Not all left leaners hate Israel!! Imagine!

The Green Party in the UK has urged the British government to “follow in the footsteps of Ireland, Spain, Slovenia and the Netherlands” in boycotting the European singing contest.
“The world’s largest live music event cannot be used to whitewash Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza,” the Greens said in a social media post.

Well, they've never been ones to let a bandwagon pass them by...

Hamas is a bad organisation, but is not actively committing a genocide. Either way, if Hamas directly hijacked the contest in the same way Israel did, yes I wouldn’t want them there either.

Actually spit out my tea! You think Hamas should be allowed to make an entry as long as they don't mess with the voting? But you think its right to boycott because there will be an Israeli entry? Oh. My.

She didn't say that.

Hypotheticals don't get us much further - there could be circumstances where it would be right to boycott because of Palestinian actions, or Spanish, or Irish, or British or whatever. But this is a protest against Israel's involvement, and nobody on this thread has come up with any remotely comparable current example amongst Eurovision participants.

WTF did I just read?!

Anyway, came here to say that when it comes to racism I really don’t think anyone needs any lessons from Spain, of all countries!

She did say exactly that.

Think of it as a thought experiment then. I wouldn't wish the UK to boycott EV if there was a Palestinian entry, because although Palestinian leadership commited the worst terrorist attack in recent times, there is still a whole Palestinian nation and culture out there ( apart from the terroristy bits ) that can be celebrated. Or, they might do a really good song. Would you agree? And so, why shouldn't Israel enter?

Historical top trumps really isn't a sensible protest against a country taking an ethical stance here and now; nor are criticisms of other aspects of a country's culture. It's okay to act and speak even without a perfect record. What could anyone ever do about anything, otherwise?

She really didn't say that!

As to your thought experiment, sure, Palestine and Israel have cultures worth celebrating, like all human societies. But Israel is a state as well as a society, and one may criticize the actions of the state. More pertinently, one may criticize its state media, which is the representative of Israel in this case, and one may decline to cooperate with it on this or any project.

Nobody would deny the benefits of celebrating Israeli culture in this contest, but one may certainly weigh those benefits against the need to collaborate with its state broadcaster in order to do so. This is what is meant when we talk about not engaging in business as usual with, in different instances, genocidal, apartheid, hostile, warmongering or rogue states. It is not a judgement on their cultures.

But but those countries aren't boycotting Israel! Its tbe broadcasters that are boycotting tbe IBA!

WTF.
Hamas is a 'bad organisation' and 'not actively committing a genocide'.
October 7th anyone? How quickly memories fade, or how little people cared in the first place.

The only thing preventing Hamas from genocide is Israel's superior military strength and commitment to self preservation. But no I'm totally with you, if Hamas hijacked a singing competition thst would be my red line too.

I didn’t say it was, I’m just saying that I don’t think Spain has a leg to stand on. It would be laughable if it wasn’t actually quite a worrying straw in the wind in terms of antisemitic sentiment.

Spain and Spanish people have as much standing as any other state to comment on and react to Israel's actions. Just as Britain and British people, despite our history, may comment on and react to Ireland's actions, as we see on this thread. We don't expiate the sins of our fathers by refusing ever again to engage in ethical problems.