If Israel is banned from competing at the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest then host Austria will simply drop the event and walk away.
The promise was announced Wednesday when the leaders of the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) and Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker and State Secretary Alexander Pröll said if there is a boycott against Israel’s participation in the contest set to be held in Vienna, then Austria’s national broadcaster ORF should not host the event, the website Eurovision Fun stated per a Jerusalem Post report.
The Eurovision Broadcasting Union (EBU), the body that runs the Eurovision Song Contest, recently announced its general assembly will hold a vote in November on whether Israel can participate.
This vote had been planned for December but was suddenly moved up.
Austria’s winning artist last year JJ has already said he wants Israel kicked out over the war in Gaza so the potential organisers are now at odds with the person who delivered the event on their doorstep.
The hosting threat first went public after the Netherlands last month added itself to a list of countries pressuring organizers to dump Israel because of its war with Hamas terrorists and their supporters in the Gaza Strip.
Irish broadcaster RTE has released a similar statement , following a path already taken by Slovenia. Iceland said it may withdraw from the contest and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has called for Israel to be booted from the competition.
Spain’s call for Israel’s ouster is an especially significant move because it is one of Eurovision’s “big five” sponsors, along with France, Italy, Germany, and the UK.
The EBU said it was consulting its members on how to “manage participation and geopolitical tensions” around the contest and would give them until mid-December to decide if they want to participate.
Israel has been taking part in Eurovision, which was established after World War II to provide a forum for peaceful competition among nations, since 1973.
It has won the competition four times, in 1978, 1979, 1998, and 2018.
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