Should Israel be there at ESC in Vienna despite the Gaza War? Some participant countries already have a clear opinion.
The upcoming ESC is still a long way off, but there is already a difficult discussion that could still sail for a long time. As it is said, the European Broadcasting Union is preparing (Ibu) A vote on the participation of Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna.
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First of all, there will be a virtual special meeting of the members, as “Spiegel” reports (even if the country, which is located in Gaza in the war against the terrorist organization Hamas, is not named in a message). The reason for this is that there are already bitter disputes between some participating nations how to deal with Israel.
“We can confirm that the board of directors of the European Radio Union sent a letter to the general directors of all of our members in which he informs you that a vote on participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 will take place as part of an extraordinary meeting of the EBU general assembly, which will be held online at the beginning of November,” said the EBU of the dpa.
ESC and Israel: Each country may vote
There is no further information on the EBU procedure, but as Austrian media report, the vote should be due to the fact that the “diversity of opinion”, which is hardly dissolving with conversations, makes this step necessary among the individual members on the Israel question. Instead of polarization, one is based on a democratic basis for decision -making. All members should have a voice.
Protests against Israel had already existed in front of the hall in 2024 and this year. There were also some musicians who clearly criticized the country. While the rehearsals occurred an anti -Semitic incident, the final ran without visible political signs. Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain have long threatened to suspend their participation in the competition in the coming year. Belgium and Sweden also plan a boycott.