Lemme Tell You About How Israel Ruined Eurovision
It's time once again to push back against fascism in the most fabulous way possible
Eurovision rules. The music, lights, eccentric singers, and overall pagentry tap every theatrical nerve in my body. Furthermore, it presents an incredible opportunity for countries from around the world to compete against each other in a far more entertaining fashion than the Olympics.
I cannot say that I have been a lifelong Eurovision fan. On the surface, the whole thing seems very bizarre and took me a while to warm up to, but in 2022, I was blown away by Ukraine’s inspiring victory in the face of Russia’s war. It was incredible to see Ukrainian men from the front line return to represent their country and be fully embraced. The song Stefania is also a straight banger.
Sadly, that wave of joy and upliftment began to change in 2024, when Israel began its genocide of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
That year’s Israeli entrant, Eden Golan, was met with boos during their performance that appear to have been suppressed for the television audience. There were also protests held outside the event, which received more attention on social media than on the broadcast. Resentment and anger were beginning to simmer among the otherwise fanciful Eurovision fan base.
Backstage, things were more intense, as the Netherlands’ entrant, Joost Klein, was disqualified from the contest hours before the finale over a disputed event with an Israeli camera operator. The operator claimed Klein had made threatening movements toward them, but, ultimately, after an investigation by Swedish authorities, the case was dropped.
Despite the escalation in controversies, Eurovision refused to expel Israel from the competition, something they had done to Russia in 2022 when it began its campaign against Ukraine.
In protest of Israel’s continued inclusion in the event, ahead of the 2025 content, the 2024 winner, Switzerland’s Nemo, returned their trophy to the Eurovision governing body.
That made things particularly awkward when in 2025, Switzerland hosted the contest. During the dress rehearsal, Israel’s dry run was interrupted by protestors with Palestinian flags, and it was obvious a circus was about to ensue. Not long after, 72 former Eurovision contestants signed an open letter calling for Israel to be removed from the contest. Spoiler: they weren’t.
Despite all the negative attention, Israel managed to do quite well at last year’s contest. Their entry, Yuval Raphael, won the public vote and took second overall when the individual countries’ votes were factored in. This result, however, raised many eyebrows.
An investigation revealed that the Israel Government Advertising Agency had conducted a cross-platform advertising campaign to encourage and boost public votes for Israel's entry. Like many authoritarian states, they appeared to try to whitewash their image via pop culture events to appear more internationally accepted.
Toward the end of 2025, a vote was held among the participating Eurovision countries, during which new, stricter rules were introduced to prevent state-sponsored promotion of Eurovision voting. However, there have already been suspicions that Israel is violating those rules with promoted content on YouTube and social media.
Ahead of next month’s 2026 Eurovision Song Contest, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and Spain have already announced they will be boycotting the event. A massive talent and morale blow to the line-up, and especially shocking considering Spain is one of Eurovision’s “Big Five” entrants, the largest financial contributors to the song contest, who are, as a result, given bye entries directly into the finals.
It is baffling that the Eurovision governing body would not remove Israel from the line-up, and, in light of everything that has transpired, I would be surprised if this “apolitical organization” does anything. However, this does present an opportunity for the vocal majority to make their feelings known in the most democratic way possible: VOTING!
That’s right, it’s time for Eurovision fans around the world to roll up their sequin sleeves and get the job done. Grab your smartphones, tablets, or old-school land-line phone, and pound those digits. Let those votes rain down on every country other than Israel, and when it comes time for countries to vote, I hope they do the same.
And for what it is worth, it does not make sense for Israel, a non-European country, to be getting such special treatment. In the words of Damian from Mean Girls, “She doesn’t even go here.”