enca - 1 days ago

Eurovision organisers push back Israel decision to December Estelle.Bronkhorst Tue, 10/14/2025 - 12:00 VIENNA - The Eurovision Song Contest s organisers said they had put back taking a decision on Israel s participation in next year s event, given the Gaza ceasefire.The European Broadcasting Union s members were due to hold a vote next month, after a growing number of countries threatened to boycott the 2026 TV extravaganza in Vienna unless Israel was excluded over the war in Gaza.The annual Eurovision Song Contest is the world s biggest live music television event. Some 166 million viewers in 37 countries are watching the 2025 competition, held in Basel, Switzerland.The EBU, the world s biggest public service media alliance, said Monday that instead of the special meeting in November announced last month, Israel s participation would be dealt with at its regular gathering in December. 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, the EBU said in a statement received by AFP. 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. Spain said it would boycott next year s event if Israel took part, and Ireland, Slovenia, Iceland and the Netherlands have made similar threats.Other countries such as Belgium, Sweden and Finland have also been considering a boycott.Austria, the host country for the 2026 edition, has slammed the boycott calls as dumb and pointless , while Germany has also accused the countries behind the push of politicising a cultural event.The past two editions were drawn into the controversy over Israel s devastating war in Gaza.

Latest News

Hashtags:   

Eurovision

 | 

organisers

 | 

Israel

 | 

decision

 | 

December

 | 

Sources