{"id":276945,"date":"2025-11-22T08:54:05","date_gmt":"2025-11-22T08:54:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/276945\/"},"modified":"2025-11-22T08:54:05","modified_gmt":"2025-11-22T08:54:05","slug":"eurovision-to-change-voting-rules-amid-israel-interference-claims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/276945\/","title":{"rendered":"Eurovision to change voting rules amid Israel interference claims"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"IndependentCulture\"<\/p>\n

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture emailGet the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter <\/p>\n

\"IndependentCulture\"<\/p>\n

The organisers of the Eurovision<\/a> Song Contest have announced significant changes to the voting system, following allegations of \u201cinterference\u201d by the Israeli government. <\/p>\n

The European Broadcasting Union<\/a> (EBU), the Geneva-based body overseeing the event, said on Friday that these revisions are \u201cdesigned to strengthen trust, transparency and audience engagement\u201d.<\/p>\n

Israel<\/a> has been a participant in Eurovision for more than five decades, securing four victories. <\/p>\n

However, its involvement has recently faced intense scrutiny, with growing calls for its exclusion due to the actions of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu<\/a>\u2019s government in the Hamas-Israel conflict in Gaza. <\/p>\n

The allegations of Israeli governmental interference introduce a new dimension to the ongoing controversy surrounding the competition.<\/p>\n

In September, Dutch public broadcaster AVROTROS, citing human suffering in the Gaza war, said that it could no longer justify Israel\u2019s participation in the contest<\/a>. Several other countries took a similar stance. <\/p>\n

\"Israel\u2019s<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s Yuval Raphael came second in this year\u2019s Eurovision contest (AP)<\/p>\n

The Dutch broadcaster went on to say there had been \u201cproven interference by the Israeli government during the last edition of Eurovision, with the event being used as a political instrument\u201d. <\/p>\n

The statement did not elaborate on that allegation.<\/p>\n

That same month, Golan Yochpaz, the CEO of Israeli public broadcaster Kan, said that there was \u201cno reason why we should not continue to be a significant part of this cultural event, which must not become political\u201d.<\/p>\n

Kan also said then that it was \u201cconvinced\u201d that the EBU \u201cwill continue to maintain the apolitical, professional and cultural character of the competition, especially on the eve of the 70th anniversary of Eurovision\u201d in 2026.<\/p>\n

As part of the new Eurovision measures, in next year\u2019s contest, which is scheduled to take place in May in Vienna, the number of votes per payment method will be reduced by half to 10, the EBU said.<\/p>\n

\"Israeli<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Israeli and Eurovision flags hang next to each other at a 2025 screening (AFP via Getty)<\/p>\n

In addition, \u201cprofessional juries\u201d will return to the semifinals for the first time since 2022. That is a move that will give roughly 50-50 percentage weight between audience and jury votes, it said.<\/p>\n

Organisers will also enhance safeguards to thwart \u201csuspicious or coordinated voting activity\u201d and strengthen security systems that \u201cmonitor, detect and prevent fraudulent patterns\u201d, EBU said.<\/p>\n

Contest director Martin Green<\/a> said that the neutrality and integrity of the competition are of \u201cparamount importance\u201d to the EBU, its members and audiences, adding that the event \u201cshould remain a neutral space and must not be instrumentalised\u201d.<\/p>\n

The EBU\u2019s general assembly on 4 & 5 December is poised to consider whether Israel can participate in 2026. <\/p>\n

A vote on that participation will only take place if member broadcasters decide the new steps are \u201cnot sufficient\u201d, Mr Green said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture emailGet the latest entertainment news…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":276946,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[96,391,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-276945","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-tv","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276945"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276945\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}