Today (Thursday 4th December 2025) the Irish broadcaster responsible for the Irish participation in the Eurovision Song Contest – RTÉ has today announced that they will boycott the contest set to take place in the Austrian capital of Vienna after today’s General Assembly vote to approve the voting changes, thus subsequently accepting Israel’s participation in the contest for 2026.
RTÉ will not broadcast Eurovision 2026
A statement from RTÉ said:
“Following today’s EBU Winter General Assembly in Geneva at which Israel’s participation in the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest was confirmed, RTÉ’s position remains unchanged. RTÉ will not participate in the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest, nor will RTÉ broadcast the competition.
“RTÉ feels that Ireland’s 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. RTÉ remains deeply concerned by the targeted killing of journalists in Gaza during the conflict and the continued denial of access to international journalists to the territory.”
The new rules passed with a large majority, according to the EBU.
Those reforms follow allegations that Israel unfairly boosted support for its entrant at this year’s contest, where it finished second, through a state-backed online advertising campaign and other efforts to drive up televotes. Israel has rejected accusations of improper interference.
Under the revised voting system, an expanded professional jury will again be used at the semi-final stage, with juries and the public each accounting for around half of the overall result, while the maximum number of votes any viewer can cast is being cut from 20 to 10, with audiences encouraged to support multiple songs.
How do you feel about RTVE’s decision?
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