The organisers of the Eurovision Song Contest have cancelled a vote on Israel’s participation in next year’s competition amid ‘recent developments in the Middle East’
The organisers of the Eurovision Song Contest have cancelled a scheduled vote on allowing Israel to participate next year, with no confirmation on whether voting will take place at a later date.
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) said “recent developments in the Middle East ” had prompted it to cancel the virtual meeting to vote on the issue, which was scheduled to take place in November.
Instead, the association said Israel’s participation would be discussed at an in-person meeting in December – though it did not make clear whether a vote would still take place.
A ceasefire came into effect in Gaza on October 10 after Israel agreed to a US-brokered deal with Hamas, though the next phase of the deal remains unclear, the BBC reports.
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On Monday, the last 20 living Israeli hostages were released by Hamas in exchange for the return of nearly 2000 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, including 1700 held without charge, as per The Guardian.
In a statement, the EBU said: “In the light of recent developments in the Middle East, the EBU’s executive board (meeting on October 13) agreed there was a clear need to organise an open and in-person discussion among its members on the issue of participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026.
“Consequently, the board agreed to put the issue on the agenda of its ordinary winter general assembly, which will be taking place in December, rather than organising an extraordinary session in advance.”
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Last month, the EBU announced that it would invite 68 member countries to vote on whether Israel should take part in the competition at a general assembly meeting in November.
This came after several countries said they would boycott – or consider boycotting – the competition if Israel is still allowed to participate, including Ireland, Spain, Iceland, Slovenia and the Netherlands.
In a statement made in September, Irish broadcaster RTE said that they would not partake in the 2026 Eurovision song contest if the participation of Israel goes ahead. The broadcaster added that Ireland’s participation “would be unconscionable given the ongoing and appalling loss of lives in Gaza.”
Spain also confirmed that it will not take part in next year’s Eurovision song contest if Israel participates, with the head of its state broadcaster saying “the genocide currently taking place make[s] it impossible for us to look the other way”.
Amnesty International concluded that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza in December 2024, while leading genocide scholars have also declared that Israel’s actions meet the UN definition of genocide.
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