Will EBU kick Israel out of Eurovision?

Yahoo

03-07-2025

Calls to ban Israel came recently from Eurovision contestants from this year and previous years.
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) will discuss a call from Iceland's public broadcaster to ban Israel from the Eurovision Song Contest in its upcoming meeting of the EBU General Assembly in London from July 3-4, according to a report in Eurovision Fun News.
The minutes from an April board meeting of RÚV, Iceland's broadcaster, were just published in European media. Prior to this year's Eurovision competition in May, where Israel's song, 'New Day Will Rise,' performed by Yuval Raphael, came in first in the popular voting and second overall, there were calls from artists and broadcasting authorities throughout Europe to ban Israel's participation due to the war in Gaza.
These authorities included Iceland, Slovenia, Finland, the Netherlands, and Ireland. Raphael, a survivor of the Nova music festival massacre, gave a heartfelt rendition of the song despite threats and protests over her participation. Following the final, these calls to ban Israel next year intensified.
Just before the competition took place in May, Ireland's broadcaster was given a commitment from the EBU that the issue of Israel's participation in the song contest would be brought up for 'a broader discussion among members,' according to N12.
In April, RÚV instructed its director-general Stefán Eiríksson to vote in favor of excluding Israel from the Eurovision and the EBU if the EBU were to consider a proposal to ban Israel. Eiríksson made a presentation about Israel's participation at the April meeting of its board.
According to the website Eurovision Fun, the text of the decision by RÚV's board read:
'The Board of Directors thanks the director-general for his report on the current state of affairs regarding participation in the Eurovision Song Contest, organized by the EBU. The Board of Directors makes the following recommendations to RÚV:
'If a proposal is made at the EBU level to expel the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation from the organization and/or the Eurovision Song Contest due to actions by the Israeli government towards residents of the Gaza Strip, the Board of Directors will recommend that RÚV support such a proposal after consulting with the board. This recommendation draws on the precedent set with the exclusion of Russia and Belarus, due to the unacceptable actions of their governments.'
Eurovision Fun also wrote, 'This board decision aligns closely with recent public statements by Iceland's Foreign Minister Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir, who has explicitly expressed her opposition to Israel's participation in Eurovision 2025. RÚV has officially confirmed that it has communicated this governmental position to the EBU.'
TheEBU has consistently said it will not ban Israel, as Eurovision is a contest between broadcasting authorities rather than governments, and that KAN, Israel's government broadcaster, has not broken any Eurovision rules.
Calls to ban Israel came recently from Eurovision contestants from this year and previous years, including this year's winner, JJ from Austria.
KAN said in a statement that it is already preparing for next year's Eurovision competition in Austria.