A host of former Eurovision stars have come together to call for Israel to be excluded from this year’s competition, which is due to take place next week.
Israel’s presence at Eurovision continues to be a contentious issue in light of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, with several competing countries’ national broadcasters having now publicly questioned whether Israel should be allowed to remain in the contest.
On Tuesday, an open letter was co-signed by dozens of musicians and performers associated with the contest appealing to organisers to ban Israel and its national broadcaster from the contest.
Among those to have signed the letter include former winners Salvador Sobral and Charlie McGettigan, as well as British singers Mae Muller and Bianca Nicholas, who represented the UK in 2022 and 2015 (as part of the duo Electro Velvet), respectively.
Da∂i Freyr, who was chosen to represent Iceland in 2020 and 2021, is also a signatory, as are the Icelandic band Hatari, who made headlines during the 2019 contest in Tel Aviv when they made a public display of solidarity with Palestine (for which their country’s national broadcaster was fined €5,000).
Other co-signatories include French singer La Zarra, former Turkish representative Hadise Açıkgöz and 2024 competitors Ásdís María and GÅTE, both of whom took part in what the letter describes as “the most politicised, chaotic and unpleasant in the competition’s history”.
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The letter reads: “[We] urge all members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to demand the exclusion of KAN, the Israeli public broadcaster, from the Eurovision Song Contest.
“KAN is 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.
“We believe in the unifying power of music, which is why we refuse to allow music to be used as a tool to whitewash crimes against humanity.”
Read the letter in full on Artists For Palestine UK’s website here.
HuffPost UK has contacted a spokesperson for the EBU for comment.
In a statement issued to HuffPost UK last week, an EBU spokesperson said: “We understand the concerns and deeply held views around the current conflict in the Middle East.
“The EBU is an association of public service broadcasters who are all eligible to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest every year. We are not immune to global events but, together, it is our role to ensure the Contest remains – at its heart – a universal event that promotes connections, diversity and inclusion through music.
“We received an application from [the Israeli national broadcaster] Kan before the September deadline to participate in the 2025 event. The application from Kan met all the competition rules.
“As an independent media organisation, our decisions are based on these rules. We all aspire to keep the Eurovision Song Contest positive and celebratory and aspire to show the world as it could be, rather than how it necessarily is.
“The EBU remains aligned with other international organisations that have similarly maintained their inclusive stance towards Israeli participants in major competitions at this time.”
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