Netherlands will boycott 2026 Eurovision if Israel participates, says broadcaster

Dutch broadcast company AVROTROS has announced that the Netherlands will boycott the 2026 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest if Israel is allowed to compete. The Netherlands is the fifth country to announce a planned boycott of the event, which is scheduled to be held in Vienna.

“AVROTROS can no longer justify Israel’s participation in the current situation, given the ongoing and severe human suffering in Gaza,” the company said in a statement. The organization manages Dutch participation and broadcast rights for the competition as part of the Dutch public broadcasting umbrella, NPO.

AVROTROS stated that they have been in discussions with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) regarding Israel’s participation in 2026. The broadcaster added that they are also concerned about the “serious erosion of press freedom,” citing the interference by the Israeli government in last year’s edition, claiming that the event was used as a “political instrument.”

Recently, governments and broadcasters in Iceland, Slovenia, and Spain have announced they will not take part in Eurovision if Israel is also involved. Irish broadcaster RTÉ said on Thursday it will also block the country’s participation in the annual competition.

Israel's participation in the event has been a controversial subject for years. Over 250 Dutch celebrities signed a petition attempting to stop Dutch singer Joost Klein from entering the competition in 2024 due to the fact that Israel were a part of the event.

This is not the first time that the Netherlands has threatened to withdraw from Eurovision. AVROTROS threatened to pull out from the 2025 edition after several reports of an unsafe environments at the previous edition, which eventually led to an altercation between Klein and a camerawoman.

Klein was disqualified from Eurovision 2024 as a result of the incident.