Name: Four countries drop out of Eurovision over Israels participation
Uploaded: 2026-01-22T14:35:53.672Z
Duration: 4 min 24 s
Description: After the European Broadcasting Union confirmed that Israel may compete in 2026, four countries decided to pull out in protest: Spain, Ireland, Slovenia, and the Netherlands. All cited Israel’s actions in Gaza and accused the contest of losing its moral neutrality.

After the European Broadcasting Union confirmed that Israel may compete in 2026, four countries decided to pull out in protest: Spain, Ireland, Slovenia, and the Netherlands. All cited Israel’s actions in Gaza and accused the contest of losing its moral neutrality.

Basel

Spain, Ireland, Slovenia, and the Netherlands have announced their withdrawal from the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest in protest of Israel's confirmed participation. The countries cited Israel's actions in Gaza and accused the contest of losing its moral neutrality, raising concerns about the event's motto of being 'united by music.'

Despite the European Broadcasting Union's decision to allow Israel to compete, Israel's eligibility is threatened by proposed government reforms that could undermine the independence of its public broadcaster, KAN. If these reforms pass, Israel risks suspension from Eurovision, similar to Belarus in 2020, and could face exclusion from other international events.

Four countries drop out of Eurovision over Israel's participation

We're turning now to the Eurovision. So Israel won't be booted from Eurovision, but the fallout from that decision is already reshaping the contest. After the European Broadcasting Union confirmed that Israel may compete in 2026, four countries decided to pull out in protest—Spain, Ireland, Slovenia and the Netherlands—all citing Israel's actions in Gaza and accusing the contest of losing its moral neutrality. That withdrawal threatens to turn the song's contests—or the song contests, sorry, motto, which is united by music, into a bitter clash of politics and values. But now the real danger to the country's spot on that stage—and, of course, we're talking about Israel—doesn't seem to be coming from Europe. It's actually coming from Jerusalem. To stay in the Eurovision family, you need one thing, and that is an independent public broadcaster. And right now, Israel's public channel, KAN, and its independence, is hanging on by a thread. Israel has been trying for years to essentially gut or shut down KAN. And this week, ministers found a new workaround, setting up a fast-track committee to push through media reforms that could give politicians sweeping control over broadcasters and news sites. So, let's bring in our correspondent Joe Brown, our Eurovision expert, as it were, to break down what this means for Israel's place in the Eurovision. You know, bottom line, how real is the threat for Israel right now, in the grand scheme of all the issues that Israel is facing when it comes to this beloved song contest? Well, these threats are very real, unfortunately, and there is actually a precedent for this. After anti-government demonstrations in Belarus in 2020, the Belarusian national broadcaster, they were deemed to be not independent or unsatisfactory, according to the EBU. So their membership with the EBU, who runs Eurovision, was suspended, and they haven't been in the contest since. So there is a very realistic fear that if these reforms do push through, which, as it stands, it is looking likely that it will pass—there have been a couple of votes to try and circumvent any obstacles that the government can push this through as quick as possible before next year's elections—and that could have catastrophic significance, consequences for Israel's image, because Eurovision is one of the largest stages for Israel to showcase their culture and use their soft power. But not only that, other organizations, such as UEFA, the European football governing body, they have said that they are not going to kick Israel out just yet, because that's in line with other international events, such as Eurovision. So this could even potentially snowball into them getting kicked out of other events as well, such as UEFA, such as the World Cup, all because of these government reforms. You know, it's just so interesting. Israel's already in a very tough place right now, with these other countries dropping out. You would think that the Israeli government would be doing everything in its power to not give the EBU any reason to kick them out, because, honestly, that would just be an easier way of dealing with a problem that the EBU doesn't want to deal with right now. And that is just—the easy move is to kick Israel out. You get all these other countries back in, and now, you know— But they don't want to do that. I personally believe that the EBU actually breathed a sigh of relief following the vote from last Thursday to change the rules and keep Israel in the competition, because the EBU was founded to keep broadcasters united across Europe and to keep them fair and independent. And this issue with Cannes has been looming since around about 2017. It potentially jeopardized Israel's chances of hosting it in 2019. Netanyahu scrapped those plans, and they were able to host it in the end. But the EBU's priority isn't Eurovision. It's to make sure that everyone has a fair broadcaster. So for them, keeping Israel in, just with the one reason, the one thing keeping them on being Eurovision, that would be beneficial to them. Well, you know, I think we both know that if Israel were to lose its place in this song contest, there would be—song contest, sorry. There would be massive anger and outrage across this country. We love the Eurovision. We've been successful in the Eurovision here in Israel with Neta Barzilai's major win. I think Noah Kirill making it to third place, was it? Yeah. So, you know. You got Raphael second last year, four-time winners in total. There you go. You know all the stats, don't you?

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