More than 70 exEurovision participants call for Israeli broadcaster to be removed

More than 70 previous participants of Eurovision have called on the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to ban Israel’s Kan public broadcaster from the song contest. 

The participants, who include contestants, songwriters and lyricists, accused Israel’s Kan broadcaster of being complicit in Israeli genocide against Palestinians.

“Kan is complicit in Israel’s genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza and the decades-long regime of apartheid and military occupation against the entire Palestinian people,” the participants wrote in a joint letter. 

“We believe in the unifying power of music, which is why we refuse to allow music to be used as a tool to whitewash crimes against humanity.”

The signatories include two former winners of Eurovision: Portugal’s Salvador Sobral and Ireland’s Charlie McGettigan. British former contestants Mae Muller and Bianca Nicholas also signed the statement. 

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The 2025 Eurovision final is set to take place this year on 17 May in Basel, Switzerland. 

The public broadcasters of Iceland, Slovenia and Spain have expressed concern over Israel’s participation. 

It echoes a similar outcry on Israel’s participation in the 2024 contest.

Thousands of protesters took to the streets in the Swedish host city Malmo last year to call for the country's exclusion.

Many critics pointed out that Russia had been excluded over the war in Ukraine but that Israel had faced no similar penalty. 

“[It] can’t be one rule for Russia and a completely different rule for Israel. You bomb, you’re out,” said Thea Garrett, who represented Malta in 2010.

Despite the exclusion of Russia, the EBU has repeatedly stressed that Eurovision should be a non-political event and has pushed back at requests to exclude Israel.

The participants said in the joint letter that the EBU had granted “total impunity” to Israel’s delegation last year while repressing others, “making the 2024 edition the most politicised, chaotic and unpleasant in the competition’s history”. 

Israel’s 2024 participant Eden Golan's had initially attempted to enter the competition with the song "October Rain", but it was rejected by Eurovision organisers who took issue with apparent reference to the 7 October Hamas-led attack on southern Israel.

The rebranded song "Hurricane" was met with audible boos from live audiences in Malmo, and shouts of "Free Palestine".

McGettigan, who won the competition in 1994, said: “I believe that the Israeli government has been and is inflicting genocide on the people of Palestine and for that reason Israel should be barred from competing in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.”

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