REYKJAVIK, Iceland — Iceland’s national broadcaster RÚV said it will boycott the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna after organizers confirmed Israel’s participation, making the Iceland Eurovision boycott the fifth national withdrawal from next year’s lineup. The move followed a board vote and weeks of debate after the European Broadcasting Union declined a fresh vote on Israel’s status, with RÚV warning that “neither joy nor peace will prevail” if it takes part, Dec. 10, 2025.
In a statement released in Icelandic and English, the public broadcaster said Israel’s inclusion in Vienna had “created disunity” among both the Icelandic public and fellow EBU members, undermining a contest meant to unite audiences. RÚV’s English-language statement added that under the current conditions “it is clear that neither joy nor peace will prevail regarding the participation of RÚV in Eurovision.”
Iceland Eurovision boycott caps a week of walkouts
The announcement comes less than a week after an EBU general assembly in Geneva confirmed that Israel could compete in 2026, prompting Spain, Ireland, Slovenia and the Netherlands to pull out within hours. Those broadcasters cited the scale of civilian casualties in Gaza and complaints that Israel had politicized the contest, as detailed in an explainer by ABC News and other outlets.
By joining them, Iceland deepens a crisis that has already forced Eurovision’s organizers onto the defensive. After the Geneva meeting, EBU officials stressed that the contest remains “non-political” and instead backed new rules aimed at curbing government pressure and unfair vote promotion, according to Reuters reporting on the negotiations.
Supporters of the Iceland Eurovision boycott argue that cultural events cannot be insulated from war, pointing to Russia’s exclusion from Eurovision after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine and asking why Israel is treated differently. Critics, including some European governments and broadcasters, counter that politicized boycotts risk fracturing a show founded “to bring us together” in the aftermath of World War II.
Years of friction set the stage for Iceland’s move
Iceland’s break with Eurovision did not come out of nowhere. In 2019, Icelandic industrial band Hatari unfurled Palestinian scarves live during the final in Tel Aviv, an act that breached contest rules and led to a fine for the country’s broadcaster, as recounted in a Guardian column from the arena. A later feature in Tribune magazine traced how Hatari helped embed Palestinian solidarity into Iceland’s pop culture.
In recent years, Icelandic artists, Eurovision fans and civil-society groups have repeatedly petitioned RÚV to threaten withdrawal unless Israel was suspended, a campaign that intensified during the latest Gaza war. For many of them, the Iceland Eurovision boycott is the logical conclusion of those efforts, especially after the EBU rejected a secret vote request from several broadcasters — including Iceland — on whether Israel should stay in the contest.
What the Iceland Eurovision boycott means for Vienna 2026
For Eurovision’s organizers, the immediate challenge is whether the list of boycotting nations stops at five. The EBU says Eurovision 2026 in Vienna is still expected to draw tens of millions of viewers and insists that any broadcaster willing to accept the new rules can take part. RÚV, meanwhile, has yet to decide whether to stage its own Söngvakeppnin selection show next year but has indicated it will still air the contest for Icelandic viewers, keeping the country’s relationship with Eurovision strained but not severed.
