Eurovision Song Contest members will vote on Israel’s participation in the 2026 competition in November.
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which oversees the event, confirmed the plan on Friday. International demands for Israel to be excluded from the contest due to the country’s actions in Gaza have been growing.
The board of the EBU, an umbrella organisation for public broadcasters that runs the event, has sent a letter to members indicating that the vote will take place at an extraordinary general meeting held online in early November, a spokesperson said.
The vote will be on whether Kan, the Israeli public broadcaster and member of the EBU, will participate, the spokesperson said. An “absolute majority” would be required for an exclusion to pass, he said.
Countries including Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain have demanded that the EBU exclude Israel, citing as a precedent its decision to remove Russia from the show following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
During the past two editions of the competition, the event has been drawn into the controversy over Israel’s devastating war in Gaza, which has now killed more than 65,000 people.
Pro-Palestinian activists protested in Malmo, Sweden, in 2024 and in Basel, Switzerland in May over Israel’s participation in the contest.
In September, a United Nations Commission of Inquiry concluded that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza.
Last week, Spain threatened to boycott the competition – the world’s largest live televised music event that takes place in May – if Israel takes part. Ireland, Slovenia, Iceland and the Netherlands have made similar threats.
Germany and Austria have backed Israel’s participation.
Other countries, such as Belgium, Sweden, and Finland, are also considering a boycott and have until December to decide.
Aside from Russia, the EBU previously booted former Yugoslavia from the competition due to UN sanctions over the Balkan wars in the 1990s, and Belarus in 2021 over its crackdown on media freedoms.
Kan, the Israeli broadcaster, wrote on Thursday on social media that it hoped the contest “will continue to uphold its cultural and non-political identity”.
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