Five Broadcasters Withdraw From Eurovision 2026 Israel
Five broadcasters have withdrawn from eurovision 2026 israel, with Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Iceland and Slovenia pulling out over Israel’s inclusion. The boycott lands after anti-Israel protests in Basel and turns next year’s contest into the biggest dispute in Eurovision’s 70-year history.
Graham Norton on Tel Aviv
Graham Norton said organisers would be breathing the largest sigh of relief that they're not faced with a Tel Aviv final next year
. His line captured how quickly the issue moved from commentary to strategy: this is no longer just a contest-row, but a programming and participation problem for broadcasters deciding whether the event is worth carrying at all.
Austria won last May’s Eurovision Song Contest and won the right to host this year’s event, but that shift has not settled the politics around the competition. Broadcasters from The Netherlands, Ireland, Iceland, Spain and Slovenia are all boycotting May’s Eurovision Song Contest because Israel is participating, and 35 countries are still set to take part in the 2026 contest.
Basel final pressure
Several hundred people demonstrated in Basel, Switzerland, where the final was held, and some wore the Palestinian flag while smearing themselves with fake blood to symbolise the killings in Gaza. That backdrop fed directly into the mood around the grand final, where two people attempted to storm the stage and threw paint that hit a Eurovision crew member.
Yuval Raphael became the focal point of the row during the final. The Israeli singer received middling points from the competition’s judges but outperformed every other participant in the public vote, which prompted a number of broadcasters to question how Israel finished so highly.
1973 and four wins
Israel first entered the contest in 1973 and has won Eurovision four times, which makes its continued presence part of the competition’s long-running identity as much as its current fault line. The source background points to concern over Israel’s participation during the war in Gaza, but the practical effect is simpler: five national broadcasters have now chosen exit over broadcast rights.
For viewers, the immediate effect is fewer domestic outlets carrying the 2026 show in the countries that withdrew. For the contest itself, 35 participating countries still leaves a field large enough to stage the event, but the boycott has already crossed the line from protest to operational damage, and broadcasters are treating Israel’s inclusion as a red line rather than a debate.
