Some 35 countries are expected to participate in next year's Eurovision Song Contest after Israel was cleared to compete, while "about five" plan to boycott it, the event's director said in an interview.
Broadcasters in Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands and Slovenia all announced they were boycotting Eurovision - the world's largest live music competition - over Thursday's decision to allow Israel's participation.
Iceland said it was considering its position and would make a decision on Dec. 10.
Widespread opposition to the war in Gaza had led to mounting calls for Israel to be excluded from the annual contest. There were suspicions, too, about the manipulation of the voting system to favour Israel at last year's event.
"We estimate there'll be about 35 broadcasters participating" in the May 2026 contest, the contest's director Martin Green told public broadcaster Swedish Television late Thursday after the decision.
He said "about five" countries felt "very passionately" that Israel should not be allowed to participate, "and I have full respect for that."
"I very much hope that those few broadcasters who feel they can't be there next year will return back to us in 2027," he added.
He stressed that the event should be apolitical, recalling: "It is not governments that participate in Eurovision, it is public service broadcasters and artists."
At Thursday's meeting, members of the European Broadcasting Union had a "full, frank, honest, and quite moving debate", and "what they really came together on is a belief that Eurovision Song Contest shouldn't be used as a political theatre," he said.
"It must retain some sense of neutrality."
Widespread opposition to the war in Gaza had led to mounting calls for Israel to be excluded from the annual contest. There were suspicions, too, about the manipulation of the voting system to favour Israel at last year's event.
But the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) said after a meeting in Geneva that there had been "clear support" among members for reforms implemented to "reinforce trust and protect neutrality".
"A large majority of members agreed that there was no need for a further vote on participation and that the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 should proceed as planned, with the additional safeguards in place," a statement read.
Moments after the release of the EBU statement, public broadcasters in Spain, Ireland and the Netherlands — who had all backed Israel's exclusion — said their countries would not take part next year.
'Unconscionable'
"The situation in Gaza, despite the ceasefire and the approval of the peace process, and the use of the contest for political goals by Israel, makes it increasingly difficult to keep Eurovision a neutral cultural event," said Alfonso Morales, the secretary general of Spain's RTVE.
Ireland's RTE said its participation would be "unconscionable given the appalling loss of lives in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis there, which continues to put the lives of so many civilians at risk".
AVROTROS in the Netherlands said a Dutch presence at next year's event "cannot be reconciled with the public values that are fundamental to our organisation".
A statement from Icelandic broadcaster RUV posted on its website said: "The board of RUV will discuss on Wednesday whether Iceland will participate in the competition next year, despite Israel's participation."
Iceland had previously threatened to withdraw.
Belgium, Finland and Sweden had also said they were considering a boycott over the situation in Gaza.
But on Thursday evening, Sweden's public broadcaster SVT said it backed the new rule changes, and understood that next year's host country Austria took the security concerns seriously.
"Therefore, SVT will participate in Eurovision next year," it added.
Voting scrutiny
Israel's President Isaac Herzog welcomed the EBU decision and said his country "deserves to be represented on every stage around the world".
Foreign Minister Gideon Saar also welcomed the news, in a post to X.
"I am ashamed of those countries that chose to boycott a music competition like Eurovision because of Israel's participation," he added.
"The disgrace is upon them."
In the run-up to the meeting, held behind closed doors and under tight security in Geneva, EBU members appeared divided on the issue, with Israel winning support notably from Germany.
"Israel is part of Eurovision just as Germany is part of Europe," Germany's Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer was quoted by the newspaper Bild.
German broadcaster SWR and Austria's ORF — host of the next competition — hailed Thursday's decision.
Eurovision voting arrangements came under scrutiny after Israel's Yuval Raphael — a survivor of Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack — surged into second place after the public vote at the last edition this year.
Similar concerns about voter manipulation were raised the previous year when Israel's Eden Golan was catapulted into fifth place despite lacklustre scoring from national juries.
Eurovision entries are scored first by professional juries, then the public by phone, text or online, which often radically alters the leader board.
Countries cannot vote for their own entry, but AVROTROS accused Israel of "proven interference" at the last event this year by lobbying the public overseas to vote for it.
