SVT is pleased with the EBU's decision that Israel will continue to be allowed to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest. The public service broadcaster should not be, believes Håkan Svenneling (V).
"Sweden should join the countries that are now choosing to boycott the competition. This is a bad decision on the part of the EBU, considering the genocide that Israel is committing in Gaza," he tells Aftonbladet .
Television companies compete
The television companies in the Netherlands, Spain, Ireland and Slovenia announced shortly after the EBU's announcement that they are boycotting next year's Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna.
SVT has not wanted to take a position on Israel's participation, but has followed the EBU's line and emphasized that Eurovision is an apolitical competition and that it is television companies that compete, not individual countries.
That argument does not hold up, according to Svenneling.
It's not like it was SVT's logo that KAJ waved when the entry was shown. It says Sweden, Israel, North Macedonia or whatever country it is. That means this is a competition where different countries compete against each other in music, he tells Aftonbladet.
“Moving discussion”
Martin Green, the highest official responsible for the Eurovision Song Contest within the EBU, says in an initial comment that he is satisfied with what the member countries have come up with.
It was a proper, straightforward, honest and quite moving discussion, but as the clear result shows, the countries agreed on the idea that the Eurovision Song Contest should not be used as a political stage, it must remain independent, he tells the BBC.
Danish academic Lisanne Wilken, who researches the Eurovision Song Contest at the University of Aarhus, believes that the EBU managed to avert a conflict that could have become much bigger because member countries were allowed to vote on a new set of rules – a compromise proposal that is indirectly intended to punish Israel, but does not completely throw the country out of the competition.
Each country thus did not have to formally take a position on Israel's participation.
Now Eurovision can turn the page and move on.
The EBU has now been able to put an end to a conflict that was dividing the entire organization, Wilken tells Danmarks Radio, DR.
Mikael Forsell/TT
Background: Eurovision and Israel
TT
Since the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 and the outbreak of war in Gaza, Eurovision has been rocked by anti-Israeli protests, both in 2024 in Malmö and in 2025 in Basel. Several countries also dislike that the competition that is supposed to unite Europe has become so politicized and associated with the war in Gaza, as well as more expensive to organize due to skyrocketing security costs.
Israel has also been criticized for aggressively soliciting viewer votes through organized campaigns. The media companies within the EBU also criticize Israel for stopping journalists from covering the war in Gaza.
As a compromise to ensure that Israel can remain in the Eurovision Song Contest, the EBU has come up with new rules for next year's competition. It gives viewers fewer votes, a new jury system with younger and more professional members, and new technical aids to counteract manipulation of telephone votes. In addition, national broadcasters are prohibited from "influencing" the result through marketing campaigns.
Ahead of the EBU meeting in Geneva, several countries threatened a boycott. Germany's Minister of Culture, on the contrary, said that it would be unacceptable if Israel was not allowed to participate. In that case, the German television company ARD should not send any artists. Austria and Switzerland also spoke out in favor of Israel's participation.
The next Eurovision Song Contest will be held May 12-16 in Vienna, Austria.
