Israel’s rightful Eurovision place sparks Western resolve, defying Arab-backed pressure campaigns exploiting Gaza for propaganda.
Belgium confirmed its participation in next year’s Eurovision in Vienna, announcing that broadcaster RTBF would compete while simultaneously issuing politically charged statements tied to Gaza. RTBF framed its involvement around “protecting civilians and journalists,” echoing long-recycled Palestinian talking points that routinely ignore Hamas brutality and Israel’s documented efforts to safeguard non-combatants.
This comes one day after the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) rightly affirmed Israel’s eligibility for Eurovision 2026—despite aggressive lobbying from anti-Israel activists seeking to weaponize the contest. Their push failed, but a noisy minority of European broadcasters, including Spain’s RTVE, Ireland’s RTE, Slovenia’s RTVSLO and the Netherlands’ AVROTROS, announced coordinated boycotts. Their justification centered on “press freedom” and “humanitarian concerns”—conveniently omitting Hamas’s deliberate use of civilians as human shields and its systematic suppression of independent journalism.
The boycott movement has grown louder, with activists insisting Israel be banned from Eurovision over the Gaza war—yet these same groups remain silent about Arab regimes that suppress music, crush journalists, and fund terror networks that ignite regional conflict.
Austria’s Chancellor Christian Stocker strongly rejected the anti-Israel campaign, calling exclusion a “fatal mistake” rooted in historical blindness. Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz went further, declaring that Germany itself should withdraw if Israel is ever expelled—affirming that Israel belongs not only in Eurovision but in the family of democratic nations.
Yet even as the international threat recedes, a new danger emerges domestically. Israel’s continued membership in the EBU requires a free, independent public broadcaster. Internal political efforts to weaken or dismantle Kan—the very institution that ensures transparency, culture, and credible journalism—risk unintentionally accomplishing what anti-Israel activists have failed to do: block Israel from Eurovision by eroding the broadcaster’s independence.
For years, some coalition figures have pushed to restructure or dissolve Kan. Though previous attempts stalled, a new ad hoc Knesset committee could fast-track legislation that undermines public media. Any move toward government-controlled budgets or dismantling Kan’s news division places Israel directly at risk of expulsion from the EBU.
The EBU has repeatedly warned Israel about these initiatives, noting that such legislation would jeopardize editorial freedom—the precise standard by which democratic broadcasters qualify for Eurovision.
This crisis is not theoretical. In 2017, Netanyahu attempted to split Kan’s news division, a plan halted only after the High Court intervened. The proposal was ultimately abandoned when Israel won the Eurovision in 2018, understanding that hosting the 2019 contest required EBU compliance.
If anti-Israel pressure ever triumphs abroad, Israel’s cultural standing will depend entirely on safeguarding its independent broadcaster at home. As Culture Minister Miki Zohar praised the EBU’s decision to keep Israel in Eurovision, the core dilemma becomes unmistakable:
Does Israel want to preserve its global cultural voice, or risk silencing itself by dismantling the broadcasting system that keeps it connected to the world?
Because—politically, legally, and culturally—Israel cannot have both.
