Iceland on Wednesday became the fifth country to pull out of the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest after the event's organizer cleared Israel to participate.
The European Broadcasting Union's decision last week allowing Israel to compete prompted withdrawals by Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, and Slovenia. The contest is scheduled for May in Vienna. The EBU faced pressure to expel Israel over its military operations in the Gaza Strip following Iranian-backed Hamas' terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023.
"It is clear from the public debate in this country and the reaction to the EBU's decision last week that there will be neither joy nor peace regarding RUV's participation," said Stefan Eiriksson, director-general of RUV, the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service, The Jerusalem Post reported.
Iceland was among the countries requesting a vote last week on whether Israel should be allowed to participate. But the EBU declined to hold one, saying it instead adopted new rules aimed at preventing governments from influencing the contest, the Post reported.
The EBU's reforms cap the number of votes per individual at 10 instead of 20; restore professional juries alongside televoting in the semifinals; discourage "disproportionate promotion campaigns"; and bar broadcasters or artists from supporting any such third-party campaigns.
RUV said it does not believe the EBU's changes "are enough," adding that it asked the union to remove Kan, Israel's public broadcaster — a request the EBU rejected, according to The Times of Israel.
Israel's Embassy in Norway — which handles relations with Iceland — said it was "disappointed" and that Iceland's withdrawal "goes entirely against the spirit of the contest," The Times of Israel reported.
Iceland has never won Eurovision but finished second in 1999 and 2009. The contest, founded in 1956, reaches about 160 million viewers annually, according to the EBU. Israel has hosted three times — Jerusalem in 1979 and 1999, and Tel Aviv in 2019 — and has won four times: 1978 ("A-ba-ni-bi"), 1979 ("Hallelujah"), 1998 ("Diva"), and 2018 ("Toy").
Earlier on Wednesday, Poland confirmed it would participate, The Guardian reported. Its national broadcaster said Eurovision "still has a chance to once again become a space filled with music. And only music."
Germany and Austria have also confirmed participation, arguing the contest was conceived as an apolitical event meant to unite Europe.
RTÉ in Ireland called participation "unconscionable given the appalling loss of lives in Gaza," while Spain's RTVE said joining the contest would undermine public trust, according to The Guardian. Spain's culture minister, Ernest Urtasun, backed the boycott, saying, "You can't whitewash Israel given the genocide in Gaza."
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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