Following announcements from Ireland, Slovenia, the Netherlands and Iceland, Spain became on Wednesday the first country among the "Big Five," the five largest contributors to the Eurovision Song Contest, to officially declare its decision to boycott the 2026 event to be held in Vienna from May 12-16, if Israel's participation goes ahead as planned.

The "Big Five" countries are Spain, Germany, the UK, France and Italy.

The country's withdrawal was approved by a majority of the board of directors of Spanish state broadcaster RTVE, with 10 votes in favour, four against and one abstention.

The vote came after Spanish Minister for Culture, Ernest Urtasun, stated last week that Spain should withdraw from the event if Israel remained on the list of participating countries.

Dutch public broadcaster AVROTROS also stated that it could "no longer justify Israel's participation in the current situation, given the ongoing and severe human suffering in Gaza."

A decision on Israel's participation in the 2026 event is expected in December. 

Why is Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest?

Israel made its debut at Eurovision in 1973, when it was still called the "Grand Prix d'Eurovision de la Chanson." That was when the country became a member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), an association including 73 active members of broadcasters from 56 countries and 35 associate members from 21 countries in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

Israel isn't the only non-European participant in the contest. There's also Armenia and Azerbaijan — and since 2015, Australia has become the "most exotic" Eurovision competitor. The show has a huge fan base there, and Australia was accepted into the EBU as an associate member. 

The inclusion of broadcasters and countries beyond the borders of Europe is also the reason why the event is called the "Eurovision Song Contest" and not the "European Song Contest." 

With four first places, Israel is one of Eurovision's most successful participants.

But the Israel-Palestine conflict has impacted the contest several times over the past five decades. 

Security for Israeli contestants 

In 1973, Ilanit was the first artist to compete for Israel. Strict security measures were implemented because, only a few months earlier, Palestinian terrorists had killed 11 Israeli athletes in the Olympic Village in the German city of Munich.

Ilanit was supposedly wearing a bulletproof vest, and the audience had to remain seated throughout her performance. Photographers had to take a picture pointing at the ceiling to prove that their cameras were not disguised firearms.

In 2024, Israeli contestant Eden Golan also performed under special protection.

Several participating countries had also called on the EBU to exclude Israel from that year's contest. The EBU considered it, but not because of the Gaza war itself.

EBU officials feared the original title of Israel's entry, "October Rain," was too explicit a reference to the event that triggered the Gaza war: the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, in which around 1,200 Israelis were killed and 240 were taken hostage in Gaza. Once the lyrics of the song were changed, Golan's participation was allowed to go ahead. 

Fines for pro-Palestinian protests

The repeated use of protest symbols and slogans by the audience or by artists hasn't gone unpunished. This became particularly clear during the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest, which was held in Tel Aviv, Israel.

On the evening of the final, the Icelandic band Hatari held up scarves with Palestinian flags to the camera, causing controversy. The EBU fined the Icelandic broadcaster RUV the sum of €5,000 ($5,900).

During a performance by global superstar Madonna that same evening, a male dancer and a female dancer — one carrying the Israeli flag and the other carrying the Palestinian flag — walked up the stairs arm in arm.

Madonna later said that this was a "message of peace and unity." But the EBU was less enthusiastic about it.

Although there was no fine in this case, the contest organizers released a statement saying the act was not cleared with them and that Madonna was aware the contest was non-political.  

The competitions in Malmö, Sweden, in 2024 and Basel, Switzerland, in 2025 also witnessed protests critical of Israel. In the hall, audience members whistled and booed the Israeli performers.

This article was originally published in German.