Spain will withdraw from Eurovision song contest if Israel is allowed to take part

Spain's public broadcaster RTVE has announced that the country will withdraw from the Eurovision song contest if Israel takes part in the next edition. This decision was made during a meeting held this Tuesday, 16 September.

The proposal was made by RTVE president José Pablo López and it was supported by an absolute majority of the corporation's governing body, with ten votes in favour, four against and one abstention.

Spain is the first member of the so-called 'big five' (comprising the UK, France, Italy, Germany and Spain) to make this pledge, joining four other countries that have already announced their exit from Eurovision if Israel is not excluded - the Netherlands, Slovenia, Ireland and Iceland.

Spain's position, as it has more weight within the organisation of the festival, could be more relevant to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which has been supporting Israel's participation in the competition.

At the 94th EBU general assembly held in July, RTVE called for a serious and in-depth debate on the participation of Israel in the next edition of the Eurovision contest. Other countries joined Spain's request. RTVE urged the EBU to find a solution before the next general assembly in December.

In a letter, José Pablo López highlighted the "concerns of various civil society groups in Spain regarding the situation in Gaza and the participation of KAN (Israel's) public television in the contest".

The Eurovision organiser responded that "all EBU members are eligible to compete" in the contest, while noting that it is aware of the "deep-seated concerns and views" regarding the Middle East conflict.

Israel chose Yuval Raphael - a survivor of the Hamas attack of 7 October 2023 - as its representative in the latest Eurovision edition. She achieved a controversial second place by sweeping a total of 357 points, 297 from the public vote and only 60 from the professional jury.

This situation generated unease in RTVE, which called for "an agreed reform" in the EBU of the voting and televoting system, as well as an "independent and external" audit of the votes or the adoption of "stronger measures" against "external interference". All this came after RTVE's Eurovision commentators - Tony Aguilar and Julia Varela - denounced the high number of fatalities as a result of the Israeli offensive and called for peace right before Yuval's performance in the second semi-final.

The EBU criticised this comment and threatened to sanction the Spanish public broadcaster if this were to be repeated in the final. RTVE challenged the organisation with a message published before the finale: "In the face of human rights, silence is not an option. Peace and justice for Palestine."

The decision taken by RTVE does not alter the plans for the Benidorm Fest, which celebrates its fifth edition next year.