The Austrian national broadcaster ORF, set to host the Eurovision Song Contest in 2026, defended Israel’s participation on Monday, despite several countries calling for its exclusion due to the ongoing offensive in Gaza.
“Now is the time for diplomacy,” said ORF Director General Roland Weissmann when asked about the negotiations before the December meeting of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), where Israel’s participation in Eurovision will be discussed.
“We used the time wisely, conducted diplomatic talks behind the scenes, and I am very optimistic that we will have a record number of participants,” he added, as reported by Reuters.
When asked about Canada’s potential participation, which has been discussed over the past few weeks, Weissmann responded: “Viva, viva, Canada. Everyone is welcome. We will welcome the world.”
Last month, Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker already stated that excluding Israel from the Eurovision Song Contest, set to take place in Vienna, Austria, would be a “fatal mistake.”
In contrast, JJ, the Austrian representative and winner of the 69th Eurovision Song Contest with “Wasted Love,” considered about a week after his victory that it is “very disappointing to see that Israel continues to participate in the contest.”
“I would like next year’s Eurovision to take place in Vienna without Israel. But the ball is in the hands of the European Broadcasting Union. We artists can only raise our voices on the matter,” he added in an interview with the Spanish newspaper El País.
In recent months, several countries have joined calls to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) for the expulsion of the Middle Eastern country due to the offensive in Gaza.
State broadcasters from countries like Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain, Slovenia, and Iceland even threatened not to participate in the European contest if Israel was involved.
Eurovision had scheduled a “vote” on Israel’s participation but reversed course
At the end of September, the EBU decided to move up a meeting to November to discuss and vote on Israel’s participation, acknowledging there was “unprecedented diversity of opinion” regarding the participation of Israel’s broadcaster KAN.
An extraordinary General Assembly session was scheduled for early November for members to vote “on the issue of participation in the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest.”
However, when a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel was announced in Gaza, the organization reversed course and announced it would not hold the “extraordinary meeting.”
According to a statement from Austrian public television ORF, responsible for organizing Eurovision in 2026, “the decision will now be made by the General Assembly in December, as initially planned.”
In this year’s edition, Israel nearly surpassed Austria in the Eurovision final, which Austria won in the final moments. Austria, with JJ and “Wasted Love,” received a total of 436 points: 258 points from the jury and 178 points from the public. Meanwhile, Israel, with Yuval Raphael and “New Day Will Rise,” accumulated 357, distributed with 60 from the jury and 297 from the public.
The next edition of the Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Vienna, Austria, with semifinals scheduled for May 12 and 14. The grand final will take place on May 16, 2026.
