EBU to Vote on Israel's Eurovision 2026 Participation

The European Broadcasting Union scheduled an extraordinary online vote in early November — moved up from December — to decide whether Israel’s public broadcaster KAN may take part in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 in Vienna, citing an “unprecedented diversity of views” among members. Several national broadcasters, including Spain’s RTVE, Ireland’s RTÉ, the Netherlands’ AVROTROS, and public broadcasters in Slovenia and Iceland have threatened to boycott the contest if Israel competes, prompting the membership-wide decision. The Times of Israel reports the vote will be by simple majority (over 50%), while KAN has pointed to EBU rules it says require a 75% majority for extraordinary decisions, creating a formal dispute over the voting threshold. The move follows large pro-Palestinian protests at recent contests and comes amid heightened tensions over the Gaza war, with extensive press coverage including casualty reporting and a recent independent UN inquiry referenced in reporting. The episode echoes the precedent of Russia’s 2022 suspension from Eurovision and has raised broader questions about the contest’s non-political character and EBU unity.