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, told Reuters it welcomed the EBU’s decision.
Today, the Hamas Palestinian militant group freed the last living Israeli hostages from Gaza and Israel sent home busloads of Palestinian detainees, under a ceasefire deal aimed at bringing an end to the two-year-old war.
“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 said.
It said that following “recent developments in the Middle East” the Executive Board agreed today that there should be an in-person discussion among Members “on the issue of participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026.”
The EBU did 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 did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
It comes after RTÉ last month said it would not screen any of the song contest if Israel is not removed from the competition because of the war in Gaza.
After the national broadcaster announced it would not be sending an Irish entry to compete in the 70th edition of the competition if Israel was allowed to take part, RTÉ also confirmed it would not show the semi-finals or final taking place in Vienna next May.
RTÉ said Ireland’s participation in the event “would be unconscionable given the ongoing and appalling loss of lives in Gaza”.
In a statement this evening, a spokesperson for the broadcaster said: “Clearly events in the Middle East are unfolding day by day. As confirmed by the EBU today, the issue of participation in the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest has been included on the agenda of the EBU Executive Board’s ordinary Winter General Assembly, which will take place in December.”