As the Eurovision Song Contest approaches, a growing number of former contestants have joined calls for Israel to be barred from this year’s event due to the ongoing war in Gaza.
On Tuesday, an open letter was issued by a group of artists with past ties to Eurovision, appealing to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to remove Israel and its public broadcaster, Kan, from the competition.
Among the signatories are Salvador Sobral and Charlie McGettigan—both past winners—as well as British singers Mae Muller and Bianca Nicholas, who represented the UK in 2022 and 2015, respectively, according to Huffington Post.
Icelandic musician Daði Freyr, who was slated to perform in 2020 and 2021, also signed the letter, along with members of the band Hatari, who had previously made a political statement in support of Palestinian Arabs during the 2019 contest in Tel Aviv.
The artists who signed the letter refer to this year’s contest as “the most politicized, chaotic and unpleasant in the competition’s history”, adding that they “urge all members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to demand the exclusion of Kan, the Israeli public broadcaster, from the Eurovision Song Contest.”
The artists claim that “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. 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.”
In response, Martin Green, director of the Eurovision Song Contest, defended the EBU’s position in comments to The Independent.
“We understand the concerns and deeply held views around the current conflict in the Middle East,” he said.
“The EBU is an association of public service broadcasters who are all eligible to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest every year. Additionally, as part of its mission to secure a sustainable future for public service media, the EBU is supporting our Israeli Member Kan against the threat from being privatized or shut down by the Israeli government.”
“We are not immune to global events but, together, it is our role to ensure the Contest remains – at its heart – a universal event that promotes connections, diversity and inclusion through music. The EBU remains aligned with other international organisations that have similarly maintained their inclusive stance towards Israeli participants in major competitions at this time,” stated Green.
The semi-finals of the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest are scheduled to be held in Basel on May 13 and 15, and the grand final is scheduled for May 17.
Israel has announced that Yuval Raphael, a survivor of the Nova Music Festival massacre on October 7, 2023, will be its Eurovision representative. The song she will perform is called “A New Day Will Rise”, and was written by Keren Peles and musically arranged and produced by Tomer Biran.
Debates over Israel’s involvement in the contest have been mounting. During last year’s event in Malmö, Sweden, thousands demonstrated against Israel’s participation amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
The EBU announced before last year’s contest that it rejected calls to ban Israel’s participation in Eurovision 2024 because of the war in Gaza.
The EBU made clear at the time that Israel complies with the rules and as such, will take part in the competition.
After the EBU’s announcement that Israel will take part in Eurovision, Iceland’s public broadcaster, RUV, announced it will consider withdrawing from the Contest due to Israel’s participation.
