On the eve of the Eurovision semi-finals, Australia’s main international broadcaster SBS is set to air the multi-country music competition despite nations across Europe calling for Israeli exclusion.
Four nations have approached event organisers, the European Broadcasting Union, calling for the removal of Israel and its national broadcaster KAN from the contest.
This follows 72 former Eurovision competitors signing an open letter to the EBU accusing KAN of “being complicit in Israel’s genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza” and calling for their expulsion from the contest.
The Middle Eastern conflict has resulted in more than 61,000 Palestinian and 1,100 Israeli fatalities.
SBS spokeswoman Sarah Vahtola says Eurovision is about music.
“Eurovision was created to bring nations and cultures together through a celebration of music, and this purpose continues to sit at the heart of this event and SBS’s broadcast and participation,” the spokeswoman said.
Friends of Palestine WA advocate Coilin Devlin says it is hard to watch.
“Thousands and thousands of people, mostly women and children, have been slaughtered and nobody is holding Israel to account – and now we’re expected to watch the Eurovision Song Contest while the Israeli army under the cover of the Israeli flag are committing genocide,” Mr Devlin said.
“We’re expected to just sit down and watch a music competition with Israel participating like they’ve done nothing wrong.”
In February last year, former EBU director Noel Curran labelled the contest as a “non-political music event”, saying that it is not “a contest between governments.”
This year is not the first time that questions have been raised about Israel’s inclusion in the Eurovision contest.
The 2024 contest in Sweden led to 10,000 pro-Palestinian protestors gathering outside the venue to protest Israeli Eden Golan’s entry “Hurricane”, written about the Hamas massacre on 7 October.
The Middle Eastern conflict has resulted in more than 61,000 Palestinian and 1,100 Israeli fatalities.
The contest’s apolitical claims are highly disputed, with University of Southern Queensland culture expert Jess Carniel saying political neutrality itself is a political stance.
“Although [the EBU] insist that it is a contest of broadcasters, not nations, it does end up being a contest of nations because the artists are framed as representatives of their countries, and they wave their national flag,” Ms Carniel said.
“Eurovision is a significant international event, and governments know this.
“The Israeli ministry of foreign affairs’ public diplomacy division is actively working to generate support for their entry, both in 2024 and this year in 2025 – this illustrates how important this contest can be for official strategy.
“For [Israel] to be excluded would be a powerful message – but it could also cause further divisions as not all members agree on this issue, and some might even leave the contest if Israel was to be excluded.”
The 2025 Eurovision Song Contest final will be streamed live on SBS on Sunday 18 May.
