Eurovision Song Contest organizer calls off November vote on Israel participation

Eurovision Song Contest organizers will no longer meet online in November to vote on Israel’s participation in the competition, following Middle East “developments,” the European Broadcasting Union says on Monday in an apparent reference to the Gaza ceasefire.

Austria had appealed to countries not to boycott next year’s contest — due to be held in Vienna — over Israel’s participation and concerns about the two-year-old Gaza conflict.

Eurovision, which stresses its political neutrality, has faced controversy this year linked to the war, and several countries had pledged to withdraw from the event if Israel took part.

Austrian national broadcaster, ORF, which will host the 2026 contest, tells Reuters it welcomed the EBU’s decision.

“The Board agreed to put the issue on the agenda of its ordinary Winter General Assembly, which will be taking place in December,” instead of the extraordinary meeting which had been slated to take place online in November, an EBU statement says.

It says that following “recent developments in the Middle East,” the Executive Board agreed on Monday that there should be an in-person discussion among Members “on the issue of participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026.”

The EBU does not clarify, when asked by Reuters, if a vote on Israeli broadcaster Kan’s participation would still go ahead, and said further details about the session will be shared with EBU Members in the coming weeks.

Kan does not immediately reply to a request for comment.

In September, a letter from the EBU’s president said the executive board recognized that it could not reach a consensual position on Kan’s participation in the competition.

“Given that the Union has never faced a divisive situation like this before, the Board agreed that this question merited a broader democratic basis for a decision,” Delphine Ernotte Cunci says in the letter.