Israel’s Kan told EBU members it would ‘not apologize for our success’

Israel’s public broadcaster says it told Eurovision participants that attempts to boycott Israel are a slippery slope and that the country would not apologize for its success at the last two competitions.

Speaking to members of the European Broadcasting Union at its general assembly in Geneva ahead of today’s vote, representatives from Kan warned that boycotting Israel would harm free expression and could have unintended consequences.

“The attempt to remove Kan from the contest can only be understood as a cultural boycott,” the broadcaster’s director general Golan Yochpaz told EBU members, according to Kan. “A boycott may begin today with Israel, but no one knows where it will end or who else it may harm… Are EBU members willing to be part of a step that harms freedom of creation and freedom of expression?”

Yochpaz said that Kan is proud of the songs and artists it has sent to Eurovision over the years, and “I will not stand here and apologize for our success.”

A number of countries had expressed anger after Israel did exceedingly well in the popular votes in 2024 and 2025, and alleged voter fraud in the televote. The EBU dismissed such claims, but unveiled a series of reforms last month to address such concerns, which were adopted today by EBU members in a vote that allowed Israel to stay.