Israel may take part in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026

Israel will also be allowed to take part in next year’s Eurovision Song Contest ESC. At its meeting in Geneva, the General Assembly of the Eurovision Broadcasting Union EBU Eurovision decided on a series of measures to ensure the neutrality of the world’s largest music event. Subsequently, a majority of members voted in favor of not holding another vote on participation in the next ESC, as this would no longer be necessary following the changes to the regulations. This meant that there was also no vote on the participation or exclusion of Israel. Israel can therefore take part in the Eurovision Song Contest for the 53rd time in 2026. It has already won it four times.

In addition to Austria as the organizer of the ESC 2026, the Swiss SRG and the German ARD, among others, had also campaigned for Israel to remain in the competition. The notoriously anti-Israeli governments of Spain and Ireland in particular had called for Israel’s exclusion. The Netherlands and Slovenia were also against Israel’s participation. The public broadcasters of these four countries have already announced that they will boycott next year’s Eurovision Song Contest. However, this does not necessarily mean that Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands and Slovenia will not be represented at the ESC 2026, as it can be assumed that the EBU will now ask private broadcasters in the four countries whether they would like to take over the organization and broadcasting in their respective countries. The list of nations that will take part in the 70th Eurovision Song Contest next year in Vienna will be published by Eurovision before Christmas.