Eurovision boss rejects calls from former contestants to ban Israel

The head of Eurovision has rejected calls from more than 70 former Eurovision contestants who signed an open letter calling for Israel’s entrant and its national broadcaster Kan to be banned from participating in this year’s song contest.

The letter accuses Kan of being “complicit” in Israel’s alleged genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza and blames the uproar over Israel’s participation in last year’s contest in Sweden for creating “the most politicised, chaotic and unpleasant” event in Eurovision history, The Independent reported on Wednesday.

Addressed to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), Eurovision’s governing body, the letter seen reportedly features 72 signatories, including 2023’s UK contestant, the singer Mae Muller, who has Jewish heritage. It reiterates criticisms raised against the EBU in 2024 for the Eurovision broadcaster’s refusal to exclude Israel from the competition amid its ongoing offensive in Gaza, despite widespread calls for Israel to be banned and threats of boycott by other participating countries.

“By continuing to platform the representation of the Israeli state, the EBU is normalising and whitewashing its crimes,” the letter states. “The EBU has already demonstrated that it is capable of taking measures, as in 2022, when it expelled Russia from the competition [following Putin's invasion of Ukraine]. We don’t accept this double standard regarding Israel.”

Russia was disqualified from the Eurovision Song Contest after the EBU found that the country's state broadcasters were complicit in state propaganda and weren’t independent of the country’s government. 

Eden Golan, Israel's delegate at the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo, Sweden, represented her country despite calls for Israel's ban from the competition. (Photo by TOBIAS SCHWARZ/AFP via Getty Images)AFP via Getty Images

Last year’s competition in Malmo, Sweden saw Israeli contestant Eden Golan perform her song “October Rain”. Kan was asked to amend the song’s lyrics due to perceived references to the October 7 attacks. Golan performed despite large-scale protests in Malmo against Israel’s participation, international calls for viewers to boycott the contest, and ongoing backlash against the EBU from several European broadcasters. One petition calling for Israel to be banned from the contest had over 56,000 signatures.

Earlier this year, broadcasters yet again raised concerns over Israel’s participation in the competition; Spanish broadcaster RTVE reportedly reached out to the EBU’s secretary-general to discuss the issue, while Iceland’s delegation and foreign minister called the country’s participation “strange” and Slovenia’s RTV SLO network supported calls for Israel to be banned.

This year Israel’s entrant is October 7 Nova festival survivor Yuval Raphael, who will perform her new song “New Day Will Rise” at the Eurovision Song Contest in Basel, Switzerland, taking place 13-17 May.

In response to the letter, Martin Green CBE, Director of the Eurovision Song Contest said: “We understand the concerns and deeply held views around the current conflict in the Middle East.

“The EBU is not immune to global events but, together, with our members, it is our role to ensure the Contest remains – at its heart – a universal event that promotes connections, diversity and inclusion through music.

“We all aspire to keep the Eurovision Song Contest positive and inclusive and aspire to show the world as it could be, rather than how it necessarily is.

“As a reminder, the EBU is an association of public service broadcasters, not governments, who are all eligible to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest every year if they meet the requisite requirements.

“It is not our role to make comparisons between conflicts.

“As part of its mission to secure a sustainable future for public service media, the EBU is supporting our Israeli Member Kan against the threat from being privatised or shut down by the Israeli government.

“The EBU remains aligned with other international organisations that have similarly maintained their inclusive stance towards Israeli participants in major competitions at this time.”