The Chancellor thinks that Israel should be at the ESC. If not, Germany must draw consequences
Friedrich Merz supports a boycott of the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) 2026, should Israel be excluded from participation. In doing so, he referred to the announcement of several musicians: Inside, who thought they would like to boycott the ESC if an Israeli artist could participate in the coming year.
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In the ARD show “Caren Miosga”, the Federal Chancellor said if Israel is excluded from the ESC, Germany should take consequences. When asked whether one should voluntarily do without participation in this country, Merz replied: “I would agree.”
“Israel is part of it”
It has been discussed for a long time whether Israel should participate in the Gaza Strip on ESC 2026 due to the ongoing war or not. Several countries have now announced that they do not want to be part of the 2026 competition if the Israeli contribution would not be excluded. “I think it is a scandal that will be discussed at all. Israel is part of it,” says the Chancellor.
In the ongoing discussion about the participation of Israel, the organizer, the European Radio Union (EBU), convened a virtual special meeting of the members. A vote on this topic should take place in November.
Radio union has members voted
“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.” This was said by the EBU to “Swiss radio and television”. “At the moment we have nothing else to add.” The next ESC will take place in Vienna in 2026.
The Austrian news agency APA had previously reported on the planned vote. She quoted from the letter to the members. It refers to the “unprecedented variety of opinion” of the EBU members regarding the participation of Israel, as the APA reports. Because there is no mutually acceptable position, one rely on a wider, democratic basis for decision -making in a vote in which all members should have a voice.
The criticism
At the beginning of September 2025, the Dutch broadcaster Avrotros announced that the ESC 2026 was boycotting if Israel could compete in the coming year. The broadcaster announced on September 12 that the Netherlands would only participate in the ESC in 2026 that the EBU does not allow Israel.
At the beginning of May there were more than 70 former participants: inside, including Nemo, winner: signed an open letter last year. In it they demanded the exclusion of Israel and the public broadcaster “Kan” from this year’s competition.
The Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez joined this. “Nobody was upset when the Russian invasion of Ukraine began three years ago [Russland] had to leave international competitions and, as we saw, could not take part in the Eurovision Song Contest, “he explained.” That’s why Israel shouldn’t do that either, because we cannot afford a double standards in culture. “
Spanish, Belgian, Slovenian and Irish radio stations also criticized the EBU in this regard.