Geneva (AFP) โ Israel's participation in the Eurovision Song Contest will be debated at a two-day meeting of member broadcasters in Geneva starting Thursday, following calls to exclude the country over its Gaza war tactics.
Countries including Iceland, Ireland, Spain and the Netherlands, have threatened in recent months to pull out of the 2026 contest if Israel takes part.
Others, including Belgium, Finland and Sweden, have also indicated they were considering a boycott over the situation in Gaza.
In justifying its decision, Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS highlighted a "serious violation of press freedom" by Israel in Gaza.
It accused Israel of "proven interference... during the last edition of the Song Contest" -- in which it came second -- by lobbying the public overseas to vote for it.
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organises the glitzy competition, had planned to convene member broadcasters in November for a vote on the issue.
But a few days after the October 10 announcement of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, the EBU postponed a decision until its ordinary general assembly on December 4 and 5.
Then last month, in an apparent bid to avoid a contentious vote, the EBU announced that it had changed its voting rules to address members' concerns and to strengthen "trust and transparency".
During this week's meeting, broadcasters will therefore be asked to consider whether the new measures are sufficient or whether they still wish to see a vote on Israel's participation.
ORF, the public broadcaster in Austria, which will host the 2026 contest, has expressed hope that a consensus can be reached so that it can host "as many participants as possible".
But other broadcasters have suggested the new EBU measures are insufficient.
Iceland's RUV said last week it would call for Israel to be expelled before determining its own participation in the 2026 edition.
Spain's public broadcaster reaffirmed its intention to boycott the competition if Israel is allowed to take part.
"Israel has politically used the contest, has tried to influence the outcome, and has not been sanctioned for this conduct," said RTVE president Jose Pablo Lopez.
Slovenia's public broadcaster is also set to snub the contest, judging from a budget passed last week that included no funds for participation.
But if at the EBU General Assembly "there is a vote on whether Israel should or should not participate at the Eurovision contest, and, if the result is that they do not participate, then we would propose... to participate", said RTV Slovenija chief Natasa Gorscak.
The EBU rule changes came after the past two contests saw the Israeli acts receive little backing from professional juries but a surge of support from the public vote.
That catapulted Eden Golan from the depths of the jury rankings to fifth place in Malmo, Sweden in 2024, and Yuval Raphael to second place in Basel, Switzerland, this year.
If Israel is excluded, it would not be the first time a broadcaster is barred.
Russia was excluded following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, while Belarus had been excluded a year earlier after the contested re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko.
Australia has had a massive Eurovision fan base for decades. It was a market just dying to be tapped into. Plus, the Australian broadcaster pays a sizable fee to participate.