Eurovision.. European countries withdraw from the competition due to Israel's participation

American-European journalist Dave Keating said that if new countries join those that have announced they will not participate in the European Song Contest "Eurovision" in protest against allowing Israel to participate, the competition will not be able to continue.

Keating noted that the European Broadcasting Union will not be able to make the necessary reforms to ensure the return of the countries that withdrew from the competition.

Recently, five European countries—Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Slovenia, and Iceland—officially announced their withdrawal from the European Song Contest in protest against allowing Israel to participate, shortly after the European Broadcasting Union announced allowing Israel to participate.

Keating pointed out that the withdrawal decisions from the competition were not only due to the situation in Gaza, but were also influenced by the ongoing controversy over the politicization of the voting process.

He added: "Last year, Israel took first place in the public vote. It also achieved a very high score the year before. Since the song last year or in the last competition did not perform well on the 'Spotify' platform, this seemed suspicious to many. No one was really listening to that song."

Keating mentioned that the Israeli government paid a consulting firm to manage a campaign urging people to vote for Israel as a form of support.

He continued: "I have friends in the United States who received these text messages, even though the United States does not broadcast the Eurovision contest. No one in America knows what this event is. I have some friends who voted for Israel despite never having watched this competition in their lives."

Keating noted that Israel thus "politicized the voting," pointing out that the Israeli government did not violate the written rules, but violated the "spirit of the competition."

He mentioned that the European Broadcasting Union, despite warnings from many countries, did not make the required updates to the voting and campaign rules.

He concluded: "The reason for that is that the European Broadcasting Union does not want to appear as if it is saying that Israel made some mistake."

He pointed out that participating countries will face difficulty in finding singers to send to the competition in the coming phase. He mentioned that 16 singers who competed to represent Portugal in Eurovision announced that they would refuse to participate in the competition if selected.

Keating confirmed that this situation may occur in other participating countries, such as Sweden, which is a cornerstone in Eurovision.

He continued: "If Sweden does not participate in the Eurovision 2026 contest, the whole thing will end."

He pointed out that the Eurovision Song Contest is the most watched television event in the world after sports, and it is the only large-scale cultural event organized without the participation of the United States.

He added: "If Europe loses the Eurovision contest due to discussions related to Israel, it will be a very big loss and truly regrettable."

On Thursday, 170 Belgian artists condemned the decision of the Belgian Broadcasting and Television Authority to participate in the European Song Contest "Eurovision 2026," due to Israel's participation in it.

In May last year, about 4,000 artists from five Scandinavian countries (Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, and Finland), including artists who had previously participated in the Eurovision contest, demanded Israel's exclusion from the competition and considered its participation "whitewashing" the genocide being committed in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli genocide war in Gaza, which began on October 8, 2023, and lasted for two years, left more than 70,000 dead and over 171,000 injured, mostly children and women.