![\"\"](\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/website\/images\/logos\/logo-euronews-stacked-outlined-72x72-grey-9.svg\"){kind=logo}
\n ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n
\n Published on
\n 18\/09\/2025 – 15:39 GMT+2\n <\/p>\n
\n ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n
As tensions continue to mount over a growing number of countries threatening to drop out of next year\u2019s Eurovision Song Contest should Israel be kept on the line-up, France and Australia have both confirmed they\u2019ll be heading to Vienna next May. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Australia\u2019s Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) has stated it intends to broadcast Eurovision 2026 \u201cregardless of whether the EBU [European Broadcasting Union, which organises the competition] allows Israel to participate or not,\u201d with the broadcaster highlighting in a statement that it will continue its tradition of celebrating \u201cdiversity and inclusion with all Australians.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFrance T\u00e9l\u00e9visions is pleased to confirm its participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 on May 16 in Vienna, alongside fellow public service media members of the EBU,\u201d wrote the French broadcaster in a statement, with no comment regarding\u00a0Israel’s presence in the contest. \u201cThe group reaffirms its support for musical creation, to artists, and for this unique event.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
France is one of the \u201cBig 5\u201d – the five biggest financial contributors to the contest, alongside Italy, the UK, Germany and Spain. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, Spain’s public broadcaster RTVE officially announced that it would not take part if Israel participates<\/a>, with the support of the Prime Minister<\/a> and the Minister of Culture<\/a>. Considering Spain is one of the “Big 5”, the country’s withdrawal could pose significant financial problems for the competition. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe genocide currently taking place make[s] it impossible for us to look the other way,\u201d said the broadcaster. \u00a0<\/p>\n Spain joins Ireland<\/a>, Slovenia<\/a>, Iceland<\/a> and the Netherlands<\/a>, which are also threatening to boycott Eurovision 2026. <\/p>\n Additionally, Eurovoix<\/a>\u00a0reports that Danish broadcaster DR has stated it will not withdraw from\u00a0Eurovision if Israel competes. However, it has set conditions for its continued participation.<\/p>\n In a statement to DR Nyheder, Gustav L\u00fctzh\u00f8ft, the senior editor of DR Culture, Debate and Music, has outlined the Danish broadcaster\u2019s position on participation in the Eurovision Song Contest: \u201cOur participation is conditional on there still being a strong international community, security in place and an apolitical framework around the competition. Our participation is neither a support for nor a protest against individual countries, but rather a desire to maintain communities across borders.\u201d<\/p>\n KAN, Israel’s public television broadcaster, has no intention of backing down and plans to participate in next year\u2019s edition. \u00a0<\/p>\n In recent days,\u00a0there have been reports regarding an \u201cunofficial\u201d\u00a0compromise proposal from the EBU<\/a>, suggesting that Israel temporarily withdraw or compete under a neutral banner.\u00a0<\/p>\n While Eurovision is supposedly apolitical, the EBU excluded Russia from the competition shortly after its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. However, Israel has continued to compete over the past two years despite growing international concerns<\/a> over its actions in Gaza.<\/p>\n Since Hamas\u2019 attack on Israeli citizens on October 7, 2023, multiple UN human rights experts\u00a0have stated that Israel\u2019s military actions in Gaza amount to genocide<\/a>, with the International Court of Justice finding claims of genocide plausible.\u00a0The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification\u00a0announced that people in the Gaza Strip are\u00a0officially facing \u201ca man-made\u201d famine<\/a>\u00a0in the territory \u2013 despite what the Israeli government has said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The decision on Israel\u2019s inclusion will be made by the contest\u2019s governing body in December.\u00a0<\/p>\n The 70th anniversary edition of Eurovision\u00a0is due to take place in Vienna, Austria.The finale will take place on 16 May after the semi-finals on 12 and 14 May 2026.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published on 18\/09\/2025 – 15:39 GMT+2 ADVERTISEMENT As tensions continue to mount over a growing number of countries…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":152480,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[64,63,7882,134,102160,2592,6897,92689,427],"class_list":{"0":"post-152479","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-controversy","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-eurovision-song-contest","13":"tag-france","14":"tag-israel","15":"tag-israeli-palestinian-conflict","16":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152479"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152479\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/152480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}