Iceland joins 4 different nations in a boycott, after the organiser declined to carry a vote over Israel’s involvement.
Printed On 10 Dec 2025
Iceland won’t participate in subsequent yr’s Eurovision Song Contest, the nation’s public broadcaster has stated, becoming a member of 4 different international locations boycotting the occasion over Israel’s inclusion.
Broadcaster RUV stated on Wednesday that the Nordic nation wouldn’t take part within the 2026 competitors, after organiser the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) greenlit Israel’s involvement final week, dismissing calls from some international locations to carry a vote on whether or not to exclude the nation.
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“It’s clear from the general public debate on this nation and the response to the EBU’s resolution final week that there shall be neither pleasure nor peace concerning RUV’s participation,” the broadcaster’s director basic Stefan Eiriksson stated in a press release.
Iceland, together with Ireland, Spain, Slovenia and the Netherlands, had threatened to boycott subsequent yr’s version of the glitzy music contest, on account of be held in Vienna in Might, if Israel took half, citing its genocidal conflict on Palestinians in Gaza – in addition to allegations that it unfairly intervened in the latest competitors to the good thing about its entrant.
The difficulty was initially supposed to be resolved with a vote in November.
However on Thursday, the EBU stated there could be no vote on Israel’s participation, and that it might as an alternative introduce new guidelines “to strengthen belief and shield [the] neutrality” of the competition that may discourage governments from influencing the result.
That prompted Eire, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain to swiftly announce they would boycott the competitors, with Irish broadcaster RTE citing “the appalling lack of lives in Gaza and humanitarian disaster”, and Slovenia’s nationwide broadcaster saying it was “on behalf of the 20,000 kids who died” in Israel’s genocidal conflict on Palestinian folks within the territory.
Against this, Germany – a vocal supporter of Israel in Europe – had stated it might boycott the occasion if Israel had been barred.
The Eurovision Track Contest dates again to 1956 and reaches about 160 million viewers, in keeping with the EBU.
