Vote on Israel's Eurovision participation moved forward to November

Austria's largest newspaper Kronen Zeitung has reported that the vote on Israel's participation has been moved forward to November.

A vote on their participation was planned for December at the EBU General Assembly.

However, the outlet published a letter from EBU President Delphine Ernotte-Cunci, revealing that the vote will be moved earlier.

"The Executive Board acknowledged that there is an unprecedented diversity of views concerning KAN’s participation among EBU Members," the letter reads.

"Given that the Union has never faced a divisive situation like this before, the Board agreed that this question merited a broader democratic basis for a decision, whereby all Members should be given a voice.

"Consequently, the Board decided to organize an extraordinary session of the General Assembly that would take place online in early November for Members to vote on the question of participation in the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest."

Full details are to be provided to EBU Members next week.

Israel responds

In a statement from Israeli broadcaster KAN, they said:

"Kan, the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation, expresses its firm hope that the Eurovision Song Contest will continue to uphold its cultural and non-political identity.

"The potential disqualification of Israel’s public broadcaster KAN – one of the contest’s long-standing, popular, and successful participants – would be especially troubling ahead of the 70th edition of the song contest, which was founded as a symbol of unity, solidarity, and fellowship. Any such move could have wide-ranging implications for the competition and the values for which the EBU stands.

"The EBU Statutes stipulate for a good reason that extraordinary decisions of this kind require a 75% majority of the General Assembly – an exceptional majority. We are confident that the EBU will safeguard the contest’s professional, cultural, and non-political character as it marks the historic 70 years milstone of uniting by music."

Despite Kan saying it needs a 75%, the EBU has confirmed that the online vote in November will be only by a simple majority of over 50%.

Other countries indicate they may withdraw

The news comes after news that Norway is likely to also pull out.

The Euro Trip podcast revealed that sources close to NRK confirmed the broadcaster is likely to withdraw if Israel is allowed to participate next year.

It also follows news from Italy's broadcaster RAI about their intentions. Three of their seven board directors support boycotting Eurovision if Israel is allowed to compete.

Not a majority at this stage, however, with a small change, losing another big five nation would have a major impact on next year's Contest.

So far, Ireland, Netherlands, Spain and Slovenia have confirmed officially that they will withdraw.

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