ICELAND LOOKS SET to join Ireland in boycotting next year\u2019s Eurovision Song Contest if Israel is allowed to participate.<\/p>\n
A majority of the board of Iceland\u2019s public broadcaster R\u00daV has said the country should not take part in the 2027 contest unless Israel is barred.<\/p>\n
Six of the board\u2019s nine members backed the position at a meeting today, according to minutes reported by R\u00daV<\/a>.<\/p>\n The board members directed R\u00daV\u2019s director to inform the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) that the broadcaster will not participate next year unless Israel is prevented from competing.<\/p>\n They also reiterated an earlier call for Israel to be excluded from Eurovision.<\/p>\n R\u00daV board chair Stef\u00e1n J\u00f3n Hafstein said the broadcaster\u2019s position had not changed since last year, as he said the EBU had not substantively addressed its concerns.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s quite clear that six board members were on the same page as at the end of last year,\u201d Hafstein said.<\/p>\n Iceland was one of five countries to boycott this year\u2019s Eurovision<\/a> in Vienna over Israel\u2019s continued participation, alongside Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands and Slovenia.<\/p>\n R\u00daV announced last December that Iceland would not take part in the 2026 contest, and subsequently cancelled its traditional national selection competition, S\u00f6ngvakeppnin.<\/p>\n RT\u00c9 has already confirmed that Ireland will remain out of Eurovision in 2027<\/a>.<\/p>\n The broadcaster announced earlier this month that it would neither participate in nor broadcast next year\u2019s competition, saying its involvement \u201ccannot be justified given the appalling and ongoing loss of lives in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis there\u201d.<\/p>\n It also cited the continued restrictions on independent international journalists entering Gaza.<\/p>\n