Five countries—Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Iceland, and Slovenia—boycotted the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 because of Israel's involvement amid its conflict in Gaza [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. The contest's 70th edition was held in Vienna, Austria, with the grand final taking place on May 16, 2026 [2, 6, 3, 5].
Israel's representative, Noam Bettan, performed the song "Michelle" at the contest [7, 3]. Bettan said he first faced booing during his performance but quickly received "a huge wave of unforgettable love and support" from the audience [7].
Israel's participation triggered protests in Vienna, including pro-Palestinian chants during the semi-final, and prompted heightened security measures for the event [2, 7, 4, 8]. Vienna Mayor Michael Ludwig condemned the protesters and vowed, "We won't let ourselves be terrorised into silence... we will nevertheless hold a festival of togetherness, I can promise you that." [2]
Ireland's broadcaster RTÉ chose not to air Eurovision, instead broadcasting a Eurovision-themed sitcom episode as a form of boycott [1].
The boycott reduced the number of participating countries to 35, the lowest since 2003, and likely caused viewership to fall below last year's 166 million viewers [2, 5]. The European Broadcasting Union, which organizes the contest, introduced voting rule changes this year, including limiting votes per person from 20 to 10, aiming to curb vote manipulation allegations linked to last year's Israeli entry [4].
Bulgaria's Dara won Eurovision 2026 with the song "Bangaranga," narrowly beating Israel, which placed second [9]. Israel has been part of Eurovision since 1973, the first non-European country to compete and a host in 2019 [3].
The tensions come amid ongoing conflict that began with a deadly Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed about 1,200 people [1, 2, 7]. Reported Gaza deaths during the conflict vary slightly, with figures around 72,600 to 72,700 according to different sources [1, 3].
The contest’s semi-final on May 12 saw Israel qualify for the final despite protests and the boycott [2, 7, 5]. The grand final concluded on May 16 with Bulgaria’s victory.
