RTÉ’s withdrawal from Eurovision 2026 came after the Swiss-based European Broadcasting Union cleared the way for Israel to take part in the song contest.
The Irish declaration came as Spanish, Dutch and Slovenian national broadcasters said they too would boycott the Eurovision, although scores of others will proceed with the contest in Vienna on what will be its 70th anniversary.
At issue is the huge civilian death toll from Israel’s war on Gaza which was set off by the surprise Hamas attack on Israel of October 7th, 2023.
But when delegates of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the organiser of the Eurovision, gathered in Geneva on Thursday to discuss Israel’s participation, there was no vote on demands to exclude the country.
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They took a ballot instead to tighten voting rules, the aim being to set off any interference by governments or third parties to tilt the balance.
The ballot came after claims of Israeli interference in the public vote that carried the country’s contestant, Yuval Raphael, to second place in Eurovision 2025. A vote on Israeli participation would have been taken if EBU measures to “reinforce trust” were rejected.
Eurovision director Martin Green said he was “pleased” broadcasters had the opportunity for a debate, claiming the outcome reflected “a belief that the Eurovision Song Contest shouldn’t be used as political theatre”.
Even though Russia was banned from the event after invading Ukraine almost four years ago, Green insisted that Eurovision “must retain some sense of neutrality”.
It goes without saying that the row over Israel means the Eurovision is anything but a neutral forum for countries to compete only in song away from the political fray.
RTÉ made clear its view that participation “remains 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”.
Still, civilian cost of the war was already clear when Ireland took its place alongside Israel in Eurovision 2025 and 2024.
Among those calling for Israel’s expulsion from the last contest was singer Charlie McGettigan, joint winner with Paul Harrington of Eurovision 1994 with “Rock ‘n’ Roll Kids”.
“I’m very happy that RTÉ have taken this stance ... It’s better late than never,” McGettigan said.
“One of the things that annoys me here is that Israel has no remorse whatsoever for what they have done in Gaza,” he added.
RTÉ spent a little over €385,000 to take part Eurovision 2025 in Basel, Switzerland. That sum is regarded as far from inconsequential in the cash-strapped station but is hardly a game-changer.
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But the broadcaster also stands to lose prospective premium advertising revenues if a putative Irish contestant made it through to the final.
All told, the withdrawal is believed to be “cost-neutral”, although the cost of Eurovision participation had no bearing on the decision.
The move has also raised questions as to whether Eurovision sets a precedent, potentially leading RTÉ down a slippery slope.
For example, the next Summer Olympics take place in Los Angeles in 2028. Steadfast US support for Israel means Washington would never exclude the country from these Olympics.
But would RTÉ come under pressure to boycott the Games if there was a wave of pressure against Israeli participation?
“I couldn’t see how RTÉ wouldn’t broadcast the Olympics,” said a senior Montrose figure.
All of this comes against the backdrop of sustained diplomatic tension between Ireland and Israel over the Gaza war. Moreover, it was the third flashpoint this week.
Only days had passed since controversy over the attempted denaming of Herzog Park, Rathgar. The move was suspended but it prompted claims by Gideon Saa’r, Israeli foreign minister, that the Government and Irish institutions have an “anti-Semitic nature”. Sa’ar publicly clashed with Ireland’s ambassador to Tel Aviv, Sonya McGuinness, who said the minister was “ill-informed”.
In the hours before RTÉ quit Eurovision, human rights campaigners in the Irish Council for Civil Liberties made a complaint to regulators in the Data Protection Commission against Microsoft Ireland, for mass-processing “illegal” surveillance data on Palestinians by Israel’s military.
Fractious exchanges within weeks of the war beginning have hardly stopped since.
Former Fine Gael minister Alan Shatter, a member of the Jewish community, accused RTÉ of “moral bankruptcy” on the Eurovision, saying it was responding to pressure.
“RTÉ has basically bent the knee to extremist campaigners who want to boycott everything to do with Israel,” Shatter said.
“There’s already a perspective internationally that the Irish State has an extraordinary level of hostility to Israel that goes beyond any reasonable critique of the Israeli government. I do not believe the Israeli government to be immune from criticism.”
He saw RTÉ’s move as part of a pattern that includes the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) vote to submit a motion to Uefa to ban Israel from European soccer and concerns raised about Gaza by Basketball Ireland.
As a condition of Government funding, Shatter said these organisations should be directed to “stop meddling in politics” and focus on their primary role.
“It’s confirming an international perspective that Ireland is not merely exceptionally hostile towards Israel but that there is a problem of systemic anti-Semitism in Ireland,” he said.
Such claims meet a cold response in Government circles where claims of Ireland being anti-Semitic have been dismissed.
On Friday, the Taoiseach said he fully understood RTE’s decision, saying it was “an act of solidarity” with journalists killed in Gaza.
In response to general Israeli criticism of Ireland, he said it was “regrettable” that Irish Government actions have been portrayed as being “anti-Israeli”.
[ Eurovision organisers set to consider Israel participation amid boycott threatsOpens in new window ]
“We are not anti-Israel. We want harmonisation between the people of Palestine and the people of Israel,” he said.
Some overseas perceptions of the Irish Government’s position on Israel were “being weaponised against Ireland unnecessarily”, said Mr Martin, speaking at the British-Irish Council in Wales.
“The Israeli government tends to have a view that if you are not on their side, or if you don’t take a position that they articulate, you are completely against [them],” he said.
“We all know the situation is much more complex than that.”
Welcoming the withdrawal from Eurovision, the RTÉ Trade Union Group said: “Given Israel’s continued denial of international media access and the ongoing genocide in Palestine, it is unconscionable that Ireland should participate in a musical contest with its representatives.”
The group represents several unions at the broadcaster including Siptu and the National Union of Journalists.
McGettigan rejected any suggestion that support for RTÉ’s move or Israel’s exclusion from Eurovision was anti-Semitic. “I can say without any shadow of a doubt, I am not anti-Semitic,” he said.
“I am not anti-Jewish people. But I do have questions to ask of the Israeli government, the Israeli regime and the Israeli Defense Forces.”
