Iceland to boycott Eurovision over Israel's participation

Iceland has announced it is boycotting next year's Eurovision over Israel's participation in the competition, saying taking part would "neither be a source of joy nor peace".

The announcement from Iceland's RUV follows withdrawals by broadcasters from the Netherlands, Spain, Ireland and Slovenia.

In a statement, RUV said participation of Israeli national broadcaster KAN had "created disunity" among members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organises Eurovision, and the general public.

Israel's place in the contest was confirmed at the EBU's general assembly last week.

The past two events have attracted protests and fan boycotts over Israel's inclusion amid the country's military action in Gaza. This year, there were also allegations that voting had been manipulated in favour of their contestant.

After growing criticism, members were asked to vote in a secret ballot last week, on whether they were happy with tougher new rules introduced in November, or whether they wanted a second vote on participation for 2026.

The majority agreed the changes were enough, although Sky News understands 11 countries were against accepting these without a further vote.

Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS, Spain's RTVE, Ireland's RTE and Slovenia's RTV immediately issued statements announcing their withdrawal.

Becoming the fifth broadcaster to pull out, RUV made the announcement following a board meeting. It said that while the new rules address many of the concerns it has raised, it believes there are "still doubts" about whether the changes are enough.

Has issue damaged Eurovision?

"RUV has repeadly raised concerns that various Icelandic stakeholders, such as artist associations and the general public, were opposed to participation in the contest," the statement said. "Furthermore, RUV had requested the EBU to exclude KAN from the contest in accordance to precedents.

"It is a complex matter which has already damaged the contest's reputation and EBU, emphasising the necessity of a solution for all concerned parties."

Austria, which will host next year's show, last week said it was pleased to see Israel allowed to participate. Roland Weissmann, director-general for Austrian broadcaster ORF, said the contest was a "competition for broadcasters, not governments".

KAN chief executive Golan Yochpaz has said attempts to remove them from the contest could "only be understood as a cultural boycott".

What have other broadcasters said?

The BBC, which broadcasts Eurovision in the UK, also said it supported the decision.

Earlier on Wednesday, Poland's TVP confirmed its participation.

In a statement, the broadcaster said it was aware of the scale of the tension surrounding the competition and understood the emotions and concerns raised.

"However, we believe that Eurovision still has a chance to once again become a space filled with music. And only music," a TVP statetment said.

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Despite some pressure from the cultural union in Belgium for a boycott, broadcaster RTBF also confirmed its participation last week.

But the walk-outs cast a shadow over what is meant to be a celebration of the unifying power of music.

Countries have pulled out or been banned in previous years - most notably Russia in 2022, just days after the invasion of Ukraine - but this is perhap's Eurovision's biggest political crisis.

Noa Kirel, who represented Israel in 2023, told Sky News in an interview in October that while the situation now is "very different" to when she took part in May of that year, she believes it should not be about politics and must "focus on the music".

Today was the deadline for broadcasters to confirm participation. A final list of competing nations will be published early next week, the EBU said.

In response to RUV's decision, Eurovision director Martin Green said: "We respect the decision of all broadcasters who have chosen not to participate in next year's Eurovision Song Contest and hope to welcome them back soon...

"We look forward to welcoming around 35 broadcasters and their artists to Vienna next May."

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