GENEVA  –  The public broadcasters of the Netherlands, Spain and Ireland confirm that they will back out of next year’s Eurovision in protest of Israel’s inclusion.

The Netherlands’ public broadcaster, AVROTROS, issues a statement saying that its decision “follows a careful and extensive deliberation process” and included consultations with the Israeli ambassador. “After weighing all perspectives, AVROTROS concludes that, under the current circumstances, participation cannot be reconciled with the public values that are fundamental to our organization,” it says. Spain’s RTVE also confirms it will quit next year’s competition “following the vote” held today in Geneva. And Irish broadcaster RTE says it “feels that Ireland’s participation remains unconscionable given the appalling loss of lives in Gaza,” and it will not participate in or broadcast next year’s contest. Spain is a member of the “Big Five” Eurovision nations, which give the biggest financial contributions to the competition alongside France, Germany, the UK and Italy. Last month, Eurovision organisers announced they were tightening the competition’s voting rules to limit the influence of governments on the results. Without naming Israel, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) said it would “discourage disproportionate promotion campaigns”, particularly if they were “undertaken or supported by third parties, including governments or governmental agencies”. It also announced that fans would only be able to cast 10 votes each, down from 20; and that steps would be taken to improve the detection of “fraudulent or co-ordinated voting activity”. “We very much hope the package of measures will assure members that we have taken strong action to protect the neutrality and impartiality of the Song Contest,” the EBU said. It is hoped that the new rules will be enough to assuage participants’ concerns over Israel’s presence at the contest. The package will be put to EBU members – including the outgoing BBC director general Tim Davie – at the organisation’s biannual general meeting on Thursday. If they are not convinced the changes are adequate, there will be a vote on Israel’s future. Natalija Gorščak, president of the management board at Slovenian broadcaster RTV, told BBC News she expected such a vote to go in Israel’s favour.  If that were to happen, Slovenia would refuse to participate in or broadcast the contest.  “I know that fans in Slovenia are disappointed,” Gorščak said. 

“I’m a fan as well and it’s so bad because Vienna is so close to us and we won’t be able to go.

“But still, we need to follow our principles and I think this is the correct way. Sometimes we need to be on the right side of history and this is the moment we are on the right side of history.”  Eurovision expert Paul Jordan called the situation “a real crisis point for Eurovision and the EBU“. “There are no winners here. And it’s a great shame that something which is meant to be apolitical has actually become a bit of a political football.”