Eurovision host Austria says it’s ‘time for diplomacy’ to ensure Israel’s inclusion

Austria’s public broadcaster, which will host the next Eurovision Song Contest, on Tuesday said it hoped Israel would be able to participate in the massive TV extravaganza, ahead of a key meeting next month.

The contest’s organizers, the European Broadcasting Union, said last month that Israel’s participation would be dealt with at its regular gathering in December, though it has remained mum on how exactly the decision will be made.

A growing number of countries have threatened to boycott the 2026 edition of the world’s biggest live music television event unless Israel is excluded over the war in Gaza.

Austrian public broadcaster ORF’s director-general Roland Weissmann, who recently visited Israel, said he’s carried out “intense work” to convince his foreign counterparts to come to Vienna next May for the contest.

“Honestly, this is the time for diplomacy,” he told reporters.

Spain said it would boycott next year’s event if Israel took part. Ireland, Slovenia, Iceland and the Netherlands have made similar threats.

Other countries such as Belgium, Sweden and Finland have also been considering a boycott.

Sepp Schellhorn, a senior Austrian foreign ministry official, has slammed the boycott calls as “dumb and pointless.” Germany has also accused the countries behind the push of politicizing a cultural event, and suggested it might boycott the contest if Israel is not allowed to participate.

Russia was excluded following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, while Belarus had been excluded a year earlier after the contested re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko.

Romania, Moldova and Bulgaria have announced their intention to return in 2026, while Canada has expressed interest in joining.

Some 166 million viewers in 37 countries watched the 2025 competition, held in Basel, Switzerland.

Austria’s JJ, whose real name is Johannes Pietsch, won the 2025 song contest with “Wasted Love,” blending techno beats with operatic vocals.

The victory earned Austria the right to host the 70th edition of Eurovision.

Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael finished in second place. She survived Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on the Nova music festival, where terrorists killed hundreds of partygoers, amid the larger attack that saw some 1,200 people killed and 251 taken hostage, triggering the Gaza war.

Israel has participated in the song competition since 1973, backing out of only three contests in the past 52 years – 1980, 1984 and 1997 – when the dates conflicted with Memorial Day or Holocaust Remembrance Day. Israel has won the contest on four occasions – in 1978, 1979, 1998, and most recently in 2018, with Netta Barzilai’s “Toy” — and has hosted it three times.

The controversy over Israel’s participation heavily overshadowed the 2023 and 2024 Eurovision contests, with most international media coverage of those competitions focusing on the efforts to bar Jerusalem by countries outraged by the war against Hamas in Gaza. The subsequent backlash and campaign to drum up support for Israel’s contestants led them to ultimately soar in the public vote.

Amy Spiro contributed to this report.