Members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) will vote in November on Israel’s continued participation in the Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna next year.
Austrian newspaper Kronen Zeitung first reported that EBU members were informed in a letter from the organisation’s president that a vote was being lined up. A screenshot of the letter published by Kronen Zeitung appeared to show that the EBU’s executive board was unable to agree on whether the Israeli public broadcaster KAN should play a part in the annual event.
KAN has expressed concern that exclusion would politicise the competition.
Earlier this month, Spanish public broadcaster RTVE voted to withdraw from the contest if Israel was present. It is the first of the so-called Big Five broadcasters to say it would pull out. The group, which also includes the UK, Germany, Italy and France, contribute significantly to Eurovision and automatically qualify for the final.
Eurovision strives for political neutrality – even if the voting in the contest often suggests otherwise – but has come under pressure following Israel’s actions in Gaza.
Several countries have called for Israel to be excluded in the way that Russia was also barred from competing following its invasion of Ukraine.
