The Eurovision Song Contest, mostly a festival of happy moods, colours and apolitical diversity, is now facing a tough decision from a different world, deeply not wanting to, but forced by many countries demanding the expulsion of Israel vis a vis the Gaza war.
It's a tough juncture for the future of a competition that was established to bring Europeans together following the apocalypse of WW2 and which prides itself in rejecting gender and ethnic stereotypes, but is nevertheless being thrown into the realities of the Ukraine and Middle East conflicts, as the EBU General Assembly meets in Geneva to finally make a decision.
A group of EBU members want Israel out of the 2026 competition to be held in Vienna. Spain (one of the Big 5 founders of the competition), The Netherlands, Ireland and Slovenia have warned that they will boycott the contest, citing the Israeli government's Gaza operations and allegations of unfair voting practices, which landed Israel second place last year with Yuval Raphael, a survivor of the October 7th Hamas attack.
On the other hand, Germany (also one of the founders) has issued its own stern warning of stepping out if Israel is expelled.
EBU is walking a geopolitical tightrope and has tried to avoid the confrontation by sharpening up its voting rules, namely restricting the number of votes per caller and taking action against suspicious or coordinated voting.
Without actually naming Israel, the European Broadcasting Union has stated that it 'discourages disproportionate advertising campaigns', particularly if taken up or supported by third parties, including governments or state entities.
Fans will now have just 10 votes at their disposal, half of what it was and additionally, specific action will be undertaken to improve ways of tracking 'suspicious or coordinated voting activity'.
EBU has expressed the hope that this latest package of restrictions will ensure the members of 'strong action in protecting the neutrality and ojectivity of the ESC'.
Israel's delegation was set to present its case for staying, with a vote expected later. It was initially set to take place last month, but was postponed due to the Gaza ceasefire declared on October 10.
SOURCE: BBC