Several Nations Threaten Eurovision Boycott Over Israel (Worthy News In-Depth) (Video)

by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief

AMSTERDAM/JERUSALEM/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Several nations have threatened to boycott the world’s largest televised song competition if Israel participates.

The threats target the annual Eurovision Song Contest, with public broadcasters in Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and Spain saying they will withdraw if Israel remains in the lineup. “We cannot in good conscience share the stage with a country waging war in Gaza,” said Spain’s RTVE. The Netherlands’ AVROTROS added, “Eurovision must be about unity, not division.”

Other nations, including Belgium and Iceland, have indicated their participation is uncertain pending a final decision by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).

The EBU defended its stance, saying Eurovision’s “values of universality, inclusivity and celebrating diversity through music have never been more important.” Eurovision director Martin Green added that “it is up to each member to decide if they want to take part in the contest and we would respect any decision broadcasters make.” Eurovision 2025 drew an estimated 166 million television viewers and 83 million unique YouTube service viewers across its semi-finals and grand final, according to EBU estimates.

The controversy follows Israel’s 2025 Eurovision entry, when 24-year-old Yuval Raphael, a survivor of the October 7 Hamas massacre, represented the nation under heavy security. She survived the Nova music festival slaughter by hiding for hours beneath the bodies of murdered friends and strangers. “In order not to be murdered, I had to hide with bodies, and to get out of there, I had to step on bodies,” she later recalled.

Performing the song “New Day Will Rise,” Raphael ultimately finished in second place in the Grand Final, with her personal story resonating with audiences across Europe, despite attempts by pro-Palestine protesters to prevent her performance, including with a throat-cutting gesture.

DISTURBANCES BEYOND EUROVISION

However, the current boycott threats go far beyond the stage, amid wider unrest in international culture and sports over Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.

In Spain, pro-Palestinian demonstrators disrupted the Vuelta a España cycling race, forcing organizers to halt one stage and leaving another without a declared winner. Earlier, protesters blocked the road during a team time trial for Israel-Premier Tech, waving Palestinian flags.

Elsewhere, a protester ran onto the course at the 2025 Tour de France wearing a keffiyeh and demanding “Israel out of the Tour.” In the Netherlands, riots broke out in Amsterdam in November 2024 around a soccer match between Ajax and Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv. Dutch media reported that extremist groups, many of them with an Islamic Moroccan background, shouted about “hunting Jews,” sparking alarm within the city’s Jewish community. “Sport should never become a battlefield for political wars,” Dutch Sports Minister Conny Helder warned.

The unrest has not been confined to Europe. In 2023, Indonesia lost its right to host the FIFA U-20 World Cup after political leaders and protesters opposed Israel’s participation. Analysts say these episodes show how the Gaza conflict continues to spill over into global cultural and sporting arenas.

ISRAEL RESPONDS

Israel’s public broadcaster, KAN, has said boycotts will not deter it. “Eurovision is about music, culture, and connecting people. We will continue to take part proudly, despite those who try to silence us,” the broadcaster said in a statement.

Critics note that Russia was barred from Eurovision after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, while Israel remains included despite the Gaza war.

Israel stresses it is waging war specifically against Hamas after the designated terror group invaded Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and kidnapping hundreds. Hamas-run health authorities say about 65,000 people have been killed in Israeli strikes, though their figures do not distinguish between fighters and civilians.

For Jewish communities, the boycotts and chants of “hunting Jews” revive painful memories of Europe’s antisemitic past.

With Vienna set to host Eurovision 2026, it could become one of the most politically charged contests in the event’s history, according to a Worthy News analysis.

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