Austria’s public broadcaster ORF, tasked with hosting next year’s Eurovision Song Contest, said on Tuesday it hoped a compromise could be reached regarding Israel’s participation in the musical extravaganza before the matter is put to a vote.
“Now is the time for diplomacy,” stated ORF Director-General Roland Weissmann at a press briefing when asked about talks ahead of next month’s meeting of the European Broadcasting Union, per Reuters.
The contest is organized by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), with the host nation’s public broadcaster producing the annual show.
Weissmann said ORF wants the Jewish state to participate in the Vienna event, rejecting objections and boycott threats by broadcasters of five countries: Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain.
“We have used the time wisely, we have held diplomatic talks behind the scenes, and I am very, very optimistic that we will have a record number of participating broadcasters,” he stated at Tuesday’s press conference.
The EBU on Oct. 13 postponed the vote, originally planned for November, on whether the Jewish state will be allowed to compete in the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest. Instead, the topic will be part of the EBU’s regular General Assembly, which is scheduled for Dec. 4–5.
An EBU statement explained that there was “a clear need to hold an open and personal discussion among its members regarding participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026.”
According to Austrian outlet Der Standard, the decision to postpone the vote was made “in light of recent developments in the Middle East,” in a reference to the U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Gaza that went into effect on Oct. 13, ending over two years of fighting between Israel and Hamas.
ORF told Reuters last month that it welcomed the EBU’s decision. Other countries have until the end of this year to confirm their participation.
The contest in Basel, Switzerland, this year and Malmö, Sweden, in 2024 were accompanied by massive anti-Israel protests over the war against Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip, which was started by a Hamas-led cross-border invasion and massacre in Israel’s south on Oct. 7, 2023.
