EBU decides not to vote on expelling Israel from Eurovision – for now

The Eurovision Fun website reported that the issue of Israeli participation has been tabled until the EBU meets again in the winter.

After a lengthy debate, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) decided not to vote on expelling Israel from the Eurovision Song Contest in its general assembly meeting at BBC headquarters in London on Thursday.

This means that, for the time being, Israel can continue to take part in the popular song contest. This decision is seen as a victory for Israel, since had a vote been held, Israel would most likely have been banned.

The Eurovision Fun website reported that the issue of Israeli participation has been tabled until the EBU meets again in the winter. The verdict will depend on the outcome of the war in Gaza, and whether it has ended yet, the site wrote.

The move to ban Israel was spearheaded by Iceland and Slovenia. Austria, Germany, and Switzerland were the only countries to publicly support Israel, according to Ynet. It also reported that, in a move that surprised many, the BBC requested that a vote be avoided and suggested that discussions continue, which was seen as a concession to Israel.

Ynet quoted the Icelandic newspaper, Visir, in which Iceland’s Foreign Minister, Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir, said in an interview, “As a private citizen, I find it strange and unnatural that Israel is allowed to participate in Eurovision, given the war crimes—and in fact ethnic cleansing—that have taken place in Gaza in recent weeks and months.”

Ayala Mizrahi, a lawyer, represented Israel on behalf of Kan, Israel’s public broadcaster. She addressed the assembly, saying that Israel considers its participation in the song contest very important, and stressing that Israel has been taking part in Eurovision for more than 50 years.

Israel has won Eurovision four times, in 1978, 1979, 1998, and 2018. This year, Israel’s contestant, Yuval Raphael, came in first in the popular vote and second overall, with the song, “New Day Will Rise,” which referenced the October 7 massacre, which Raphael survived by hiding under dead bodies in a bomb shelter for hours.

Call for Israel to be banned

Before this year’s competition in May, Iceland and other public broadcasters, including Spain’s broadcaster, called for Israel to be banned because of the war in Gaza.

Following Raphael’s success with Eurovision voters around the world, calls to ban Israel intensified, with many recent and former Eurovision participants calling for there to be an investigation into whether Israel broke rules by promoting Raphael’s song with ads financed with government funding. The EBU said that this was not a violation of its rules.

The EBU has consistently said that it will not ban Israel, because Eurovision is a contest between broadcasting authorities rather than governments and that Kan, Israel’s government broadcaster, has not broken any Eurovision rules.