Eurovision host Austria hopes for compromise on Israel participation

Austria’s public broadcaster, which will host the next Eurovision contest, says it hopes for a compromise on Israel’s participation in the massive song contest.

The Eurovision Song Contest’s organizers, the European Broadcasting Union, said last month that Israel’s participation would be dealt with at its regular gathering in December.

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.

ORF director general Roland Weissmann says he has 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 tells 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,” while Germany has also accused the countries behind the push of politicizing a cultural event.

Some 166 million viewers in 37 countries watched the 2025 competition, held in Basel, Switzerland. Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael finished in second place. She survived the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel that sparked the Gaza war, hiding beneath bodies as Hamas gunmen attacked a music festival, killing hundreds.