Four countries have boycotted next year's Eurovision Song Contest after Israel was given permission on Thursday to enter next May's competition. The withdrawal has prefaced arguably the greatest crisis to hit the event – specifically designed to foster unity among European nations and beyond – in its 69-year history.

After organizers agreed to allow Israel to participate, Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland and Slovenia announced their decision to withdraw in protest at the Middle Eastern powerhouse's military campaign in Gaza. 

The broadcasters who had threatened to boycott the event cited the death count in Gaza and accused Israel of flouting rules meant to guard the contest's neutrality. Israel accuses its critics of mounting a global smear campaign against it.

Although not situated in Europe, Israel has participated in most Eurovision contests since 1973 and has won four times, most recently in 2018.

Israel's 2025 entrant Yuval Raphael finished in second place at last May's contest in Basel, Switzerland with her song New Day Will Rise. Raphael was at the Nova music festival, a target of the October 7, 2023 attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel that triggered the Gaza war.

After last year's contest, decided by a combination of a public vote and the selection of individual countries' representatives, some critics accused the country of artificially boosting its position through a funded advertising campaign.

Thursday's boycott announcements came after a meeting in Geneva at which the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) decided not to call a vote on Israel's participation, saying it had instead passed new rules aimed at discouraging governments from influencing the contest.

Immediately afterwards the Dutch, Spanish, Irish and Slovenian broadcasters said they would withdraw, meaning singers from their countries would not compete in the contest that draws millions of viewers worldwide.

Ben Robertson, a Eurovision expert from fan website ESC Insight, said the contest's integrity was at its lowest ebb.

"Never in the history of the contest have we had such a vote, and such a split, between the member broadcasters of the European Broadcasting Union," he said.

Both the Israeli government and opposition leaders celebrated the country's inclusion. Golan Yochpaz, CEO of Israeli broadcaster KAN, likened the efforts to exclude Israel to a form of "cultural boycott," while Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on X of the withdrawm countries: "The disgrace is upon them."

'Unconscionable'

The Eurovision Song Contest dates back to 1956 and reaches around 160 million viewers, according to the EBU – more than the almost 128 million recorded for this year's US Super Bowl, according to figures from Nielsen.

Israel's participation has divided opinion in the competition that has a history of entanglement in national rivalries, international issues and political voting.

Irish broadcaster RTE said it felt "Ireland's participation remains unconscionable given the appalling loss of lives in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis there which continues to put the lives of so many civilians at risk".

Jose Pablo Lopez, head of Spanish state broadcaster RTVE said on X: "What happened in the EBU Assembly confirms that Eurovision is not a song contest but a festival dominated by geopolitical interests and fractured."

RTV Slovenija said that together with Spain, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Turkey, Algeria and Iceland, it had requested a secret vote on Israel's participation, but that this was not held.

Icelandic public broadcaster RUV said its board will make a decision on December 10 on whether to participate in the next Eurovision, which will be held in Vienna in May.

Instead of voting on Israel, the EBU said its members backed rules intended to discourage governments and third parties from disproportionately promoting songs to sway voters after allegations that Israel unfairly boosted its 2025 entrant.

"This vote means that all EBU Members who wish to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 and agree to comply with the new rules are eligible to take part," it said.

Germany, a major Eurovision backer, had signaled it would not take part if Israel was barred. Germany's culture minister Wolfram Weimer told the Bild newspaper he welcomed the decision.

"Israel belongs to the Eurovision Song Contest like Germany belongs to Europe," he said.

Martin Green, the contest's director, said EBU members showed they wanted to protect the neutrality of the competition.

"Eurovision was born from the ashes of the Second World War," he said. "It was designed to bring us together, and it will hit bumps in the road, and we have a complicated world, but we hope it's a temporary situation, and we'll move forward."