Four countries to boycott Eurovision 2026 as Israel cleared to compete

Ireland, Spain, Slovenia & the Netherlands are boycotting Eurovision as Israel is still allowed to participate, despite their actions in Palestine.
Ironic considering Russia hasn't been allowed to participate since 2021, right?


https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/dec/04/ireland-spain-and-the-netherlands-to-boycott-eurovision-2026-as-israel-cleared-to-compete

Willing to lose 4 countries to keep israel, a country not in europe. Enough said.

Tbf it’s about being in the EBU rather than merely being in Europe but it is really stupid (what you’ve pointed out here) when you think about it.
At this point just make the Eurovision European only (make an exception for Cyprus because they are in the EU and culturally European, then also Australia because they are just a chill country if really needed). It would help clear confusion if countries needed to be geographically located in Europe (includes transcontinental countries) to participate because I was also confused myself.

I think it's all just BS though. Why ban Russia but not Israel?

Hypocrisy. Same thing applies to Palestine in my book. Why ban Belarus and not Palestine (for international competitions in general)?
For me you either allow all 4 nations to compete or none when it comes to international competitions. The Eurovision might as well let Russia back in. The Olympics (off-topic) might as well let Belarus and Russia back in etc if Israel and Palestine can still participate in international competitions.
But I don’t expect these bodies to have a decent moral compass on issues that actually matter.

Well played to those four countries. I’ll probably give it a miss this year for similar reasons.

It's all propaganda atp I swear. They said last year Ireland was one of the biggest voters for Israel. There's actually no way that many Irish people would vote for Israel, unless it's Israelis with dual citizenships or the like.

Yeah that too, I’m throughly unconvinced that Ireland or the Irish (excluding NI maybe) would vote in favour of such country. Unless RTÉ happen to only be boycotting to save their own skin and in reality do support Israel but I doubt it.

As an Irish citizen, they really don't lol. What they publically say about Israel is quite measured and moderate compared to most people's opinions on it 🤷*♀️
(And on NI, they voted in SF of all parties, so I wouldn't doubt them lol)

The link won’t open for me, but the reason that I mention NI is because they are part of the UK and there’s likely (in my opinion) more pro-Israelis on average in the UK vs Ireland (the South).

I've been boycotting Eurovision for years on the basis of taste.

Currently five countries are boycotting - Iceland, Spain, Ireland, Slovenia and the Netherlands.
2024 winner Nemo has said they are returning their winners trophy in protest, (and issued a quite thoughtful statement):
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0q5504vv0ko

Ireland, Spain, Slovenia & the Netherlands are boycotting Eurovision as Israel is still allowed to participate, despite their actions in Palestine.
Ironic considering Russia hasn't been allowed to participate since 2021, right?
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/dec/04/ireland-spain-and-the-netherlands-to-boycott-eurovision-2026-as-israel-cleared-to-compete

Willing to lose 4 countries to keep israel, a country not in europe. Enough said.

It's all propaganda atp I swear. They said last year Ireland was one of the biggest voters for Israel. There's actually no way that many Irish people would vote for Israel, unless it's Israelis with dual citizenships or the like.