Israel Will Return For Eurovision Song Contest 2026

Eurovision’s participating countries have decided that Israel will be returning to the contest in 2026.

Israel’s presence at the Eurovision Song Contest has long been a contentious issue, but bosses have been facing even more widespread calls to ban them from the competition for the last two years, as a result of the escalating conflict in the Middle East.

Several countries – including The Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain and Ireland – even went as far as saying they would not return to the contest next year if Israel were allowed to remain.

Ireland holds the joint record for most Eurovision wins, while Spain is one of the “Big Five” countries, which contribute the most financially to the competition (alongside the UK, France, Germany and Italy).

On Thursday, members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) met for a summit, where the issue of Israel’s involvement was debated at length.

It was subsequently confirmed that evening that the Israeli delegation would be invited back to the contest in 2026, despite the furore.

The Netherlands’ national broadcaster, Avrotros, became the first to announce that, as a result, they would be withdrawing from next year’s event.

“Avrotros has decided not to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2026,” they said in a statement.

“This decision follows a careful and extensive deliberation process in which we consulted a broad range of stakeholders: from the Israeli ambassador to Amnesty International, from the EBU to several European public broadcasters, as well as our own Association Council, Works Council, Supervisory Board, and the many thousands of Eurovision fans who reached out to us.

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. This decision was taken in close coordination with the Dutch Public Broadcasting (NPO), which respects and supports the conclusions we have drawn.”

Spain’s RTVE subsequently announced they would also be pulling out of next year’s contest, in what will come as a major blow to the competition, as did Ireland’s RTÉ and Slovenia’s RTVSLO.

Prior to this year’s final, a large number of former contestants and acts associated with the competition – including several former winners – backed calls for Israel to be removed from the contest.

Following his victory in May, reigning champion JJ from Austria added his voice to the discussion, backing calls for Israel to be excluded from Eurovision.

Last year’s winner Nemo previously shared their take on the matter during a recent exclusive interview with HuffPost UK, saying: “I support the call for Israel’s exclusion from the Eurovision Song Contest.

“Israel’s actions are fundamentally at odds with the values that Eurovision claims to uphold — peace, unity, and respect for human rights.”

Meanwhile, the chancellor of Germany said in October that he supported calls for the country to pull out of Eurovision in 2026 should Israel not be permitted to compete.

At the most recent Eurovision Song Contest, Israeli representative Yuval Raphael finished in second place overall. With the Eurovision juries, Israel finished in joint-14th place, but were boosted forward thanks to the televoting, in which they came first.

Eurovision is due to take place in Vienna in May 2026, following JJ’s win for Austria earlier this year.