KAN addresses calls for Israel to withdraw from Eurovision

KAN CEO Golan Yochpaz says Israel must remain part of Eurovision as several European countries threaten a boycott over the Gaza war.

Golan Yochpaz, the CEO of KAN, Israel’s public broadcaster, pushed back Monday against statements by a growing number of European broadcasters, government officials, and performers threatening they will refuse to participate in the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest if Israel takes part, because of the war in Gaza.

At an event launching Kan’s new slate of programs in Tel Aviv, Yochpaz said, “There is no reason why Israel should not continue to be a significant part of this cultural event, which must under no circumstances become political.”

He was responding to official announcements by the Netherlands, Ireland, and Slovenia saying that they will boycott Eurovision if there is an Israeli contestant in 2026. Spain has hinted that it would follow suit, and the BBC reported Monday that Spain’s Culture Minister, Ernest Urtasun, said, "We have to make sure that Israel does not take part in the next Eurovision."

Spain’s Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, called recently for Israel to be banned from international sports competitions because of the war in Gaza.

Iceland’s cultural representatives have also suggested that they will refuse to participate if an Israeli competes in the upcoming Eurovision contest, and Belgium’s broadcaster has said it supports the idea of an Israeli withdrawal.

Ynet Global reported Sunday that the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the organization that runs Eurovision, is trying to negotiate a compromise. “Unofficial proposals have been conveyed to Israeli representatives that include a temporary withdrawal from the competition or a performance under a neutral flag,” EBU sources told the website.

Ynet Global added that the EBU "has not made any proposals to Kan regarding participation in next year’s Eurovision Song Contest. The consultation with the wider EBU membership is ongoing and no decisions will be made until the process concludes.”

EBU hopes to resolve matter by December

The governing body of the EBU is set to meet and vote on the issue in early December and is reportedly hoping to resolve the matter by then. While a vocal minority of participating countries have made their opposition to Israel known, the majority of European broadcasters plan to take part as usual.

Russia was banned from sending contestants since it invaded Ukraine in 2022, but the EBU has said repeatedly that the competition is not between governments but between public broadcasting authorities, and that Russia’s broadcaster broke the competition’s rules.

Yochpaz noted that Israel has often been outstandingly successful at Eurovision, a contest watched by hundreds of millions each year and in which the winner is chosen through a combination of audience votes and national juries.

Earlier this year, amid similar calls for Israel to drop out in the run-up to the competition, Israel’s song, “New Day Will Rise,” performed by Yuval Raphael, a survivor of the massacre at the Nova Music Festival, won the popular vote, and Raphael placed second overall.

In 2024, Eden Golan came in fifth overall and second in the popular vote, and in 2023, before the war broke out, Noa Kirel came in third. Israel has won the song contest four times since it began participating in 1975: in 1978, 1979, 1998, and 2018.

European artists and broadcasters who received fewer points than Raphael in 2025 have accused Israel of gaming the audience-vote results, sometimes pointing to the fact that an Israeli government-run advertising agency promoted “New Day Will Rise” on various websites.

This practice is common among participating countries and is not against the rules. According to the site Wiwibloggs, the EBU’s investigative body, which is called Spotlight, found that countries including Malta, Greece, Albania, Poland, Armenia, and France ran similar campaigns.