Overnight, Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands and Slovenia have announced they will boycott the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest after Israel was given the green light to continue competing.
The contest strives to put pop before politics, but has repeatedly become embroiled in world events.
While the war in Gaza has been the latest challenge, Israel has long faced controversy over its participation in the song contest.
Here's what we know and what this all means for the future of the contest.
What has Israel's participation looked like in the past?
Israel's 1973 debut at the song contest came just a year after the Munich massacre where 11 members of the 1972 Israeli Olympic team were murdered by a Palestinian militant organisation.
From the start, some Arab countries have objected to Israel's participation.
In 1978, when it became clear Israel would win, Jordan stopped the live broadcast and later announced runner-up Belgium as the winner.
Overall, Israel has won four times and its 1997 winner, Dana International, made history as the first openly queer winner.
Australia's leading Eurovision expert, associate professor Jess Carniel, said objections to Israel started to come to a head after its victory in Lisbon 2018, which meant it would host in 2019.
"There was enormous pressure on artists and fans to boycott, leading to the infamous incident with Iceland's Hatari holding up a Palestinian flag scarf during the voting," Dr Carniel told the ABC.
"Since then, the question of Israel and Palestine has been more to the forefront of the average viewer or fan's awareness."
In 2024, Israel's entry, initially titled October Rain, faced demands for revision due to its perceived political messaging related to the war in Gaza.
October Rain included lines such as:
"There's no air left to breathe …"
And:
"They were all good children, each one of them …"
The lyrics were apparent allusions to the people who holed up in shelters as Hamas gunmen carried out a killing and kidnapping spree in Israel on October 7.
These lines were subsequently changed and the song was also re-titled `Hurricane.
Eurovision rules state lyrics and performances must not be political, commercial, or offensive to make sure that the contest "shall in no case be politicised and/or instrumentalised and/or otherwise brought into disrepute in any way".
In the months leading up to the 2025 contest, Israel's participation was again a point of controversy across Europe.
Activists and civil society groups questioned whether the Israeli national broadcaster, KAN, should be permitted to take part, citing the ongoing humanitarian emergency in Gaza.
This resulted in an open letter to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), signed by 72 former Eurovision artists, demanding Israel's exclusion.
The letter alleged KAN was "complicit in Israel's genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza and the decades-long regime of apartheid and military occupation against the entire Palestinian people".
The performers said the broadcaster's inclusion would "allow music to be used as a tool to whitewash crimes against humanity".
This led to large-scale Pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Basel, Switzerland.
Protesters also demonstrated the year before in Malmo, Sweden.
Israel has also faced allegations of interference in the contest's voting process.
For instance, concerns about voter manipulation were raised in 2024 when Israel's Eden Golan was catapulted into fifth place despite lacklustre scoring from national juries.
The meeting in Geneva last night, where the EBU decided not to call a vote on Israel's participation, said it had instead passed new rules aimed at discouraging governments from influencing the contest.
This prompted Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands and Slovenia to boycott the event.
Why does the boycott matter?
Previously, boycotts have been limited to groups of fans.
Now, it is broadcasters themselves who are opting out, some of whom are among the most enthusiastic Eurovision nations.
"The Netherlands has been in the contest since it began in 1956, and Ireland ties with Sweden for the most Eurovision wins," Dr Carniel said.
"Although, as the EBU emphasises, Eurovision is a contest of broadcasters, the broadcasters do hold the power of a country's representation at Eurovision and these broadcasters have decided to make use of that power."
Spain's stance is also particularly important.
Spain is one of Eurovision's Big Five countries, a group which also includes France, Germany, Italy and the UK.
While the host broadcaster — decided by the previous year's winner — will often contribute the most towards the contest's cost, the Big Five also make up a significant amount.
The Big Five countries also automatically qualify for the grand final.
Speaking with ABC Radio National, Donal Mulligan, assistant professor of communications at Dublin City University and a long-time Eurovision commentator, said Spain's decision would "directly strain finances".
"It's very significant that Spain is amongst the countries who are boycotting as it will change the nature of the competition and voting," he said.
What does this mean for Eurovision's future?
Eurovision's slogan — 'United by Music' — stands in stark contrast to a contest increasingly marked by global geopolitics, despite the EBU claiming it remains politically neutral.
In 2021, Belarus was excluded after submitting songs that were deemed politically charged and in violation of the EBU's rules on political neutrality.
In 2022, the EBU excluded Russia from participating following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Dr Mulligan said Russia's ban had been compared to Israel's case.
"There's always been the idea that Eurovision is above politics, which is slightly fantastical to some degree," he said.
"I think very particularly in this case, the decision made by the EBU themselves to exclude Russia and the basis of that decision was because Russia's continued participation would bring the contest into disrepute.
"That has caused a situation where these countries look at that and say, 'Well, are we not calling the competition into disrepute if Israel is allowed to participate?'"
In terms of what happens next, Dr Carniel believes the contest is "treading shaky ground" now.
"Ultimately, the EBU may need to perform a cost-benefit analysis of Israel's ongoing participation — is their participation worth the loss of four participants, including one of their largest financial supporters?"
