Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has called for Israel to be excluded from the Eurovision Song Contest, expressing solidarity with "the Palestinian people, who are enduring injustice, war and bombings," according to the AFP news agency.
Sánchez accused the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organizes Eurovision, of "double standards" for allowing Israel to compete while continuing to bar Russia, which was banned from the contest following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. "Israel should not be allowed to participate either, because double standards in culture cannot be tolerated," he said.
The Spanish prime minister has recently intensified his criticism of Israel, going as far as accusing it of committing "genocide" during a parliamentary debate last week.
Spain's outcry comes in the wake of Israel's second-place finish in the Eurovision final, where its contestant, Yuval Raphael, won the most votes from the public. Austria claimed the top spot and will host the competition next year.
The European Broadcasting Union has continued to defend Israel's participation, noting that its public broadcaster, Kan, remains a member of the EBU. Russia's state broadcasters, on the other hand, were expelled from the organization in 2022 following the invasion of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Spain's public broadcaster RTVE has called on the EBU to investigate the Spanish public's voting results, after Israel's representative received the country's highest public vote tally.
Joining the backlash is Erika Vikman, who represented Finland in the contest. Speaking after her performance, Vikman said, "I read today that Israel received a lot of votes from the public – that's not fair."
