Israel will be allowed to compete in next year’s Eurovision Song Contest – with several broadcasters saying they will now boycott the event.
Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS, Spain’s RTVE and Ireland’s RTE immediately issued statements saying they will not participate in the 2026 contest following the European Broadcasting Union’s general assembly meeting on Thursday.
Sky News understands Slovenia’s broadcaster will also pull out.
Members were asked to vote in a secret ballot on whether they were happy with new rules announced last month, without going ahead with a vote on participation next year.
In a statement, the EBU said members had shown “clear support for reforms to reinforce trust and protect neutrality”.
Ahead of the assembly, Israel’s public broadcaster KAN said its chief executive Golan Yochpaz and representative to the EBU, Ayala Mizrahi, would present KAN’s position “regarding attempts to disqualify Israel from the competition”.
The rule changes annnounced in November came after Israeli singer Yuval Raphael received the largest number of votes from the public at this year’s contest, held in Basel, Switzerland, in May – ultimately finishing as runner-up to Austria’s entry after the jury votes were counted.
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