Belgium doubts Eurovision participation after Israel scores twelve points, AVROTROS responds

Austria won the Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday, but Israel received the most televotes (public votes). But because of the war in Gaza, critics and protesters think the Song Contest is becoming too political. Belgium, and other countries, are doubting whether to participate again and want the EBU to reconsider Israel's participation.

Although the Netherlands previously confirmed its participation in the next Song Festival, AVROTROS and the NPO are issuing a joint statement today. In the statement, the broadcasters emphasize that they value the apolitical and unifying nature of the Song Festival. "But we see that the event is increasingly influenced by social and geopolitical tensions."

Just like last year, since the war in Gaza, there was a lot of fuss about Israel's participation this year. The performance of Israeli singer Yuval Raphael was disrupted several times. There were also demonstrations near the location of the Eurovision Song Contest in Basel. However, it turned out that this criticism from the public was not exactly universal. Televoters from various countries, including the Netherlands and Belgium, gave Israel twelve points - with which the country ultimately managed to win the public vote.

Although the EBU, the organisation behind the Eurovision Song Contest, says that the televoting and counting of votes were done correctly, the Belgian broadcaster VRT and the Spanish RTVE question the fact that Israel received twelve points from the public, while the professional juries awarded only a few points. The broadcasters are therefore demanding an investigation into the televoting.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called on the EBU on Monday to ban Israel from participating, as it had done with Russia. "We cannot have double standards when it comes to culture," he said. The Spanish also gave Israel twelve points during the last Eurovision Song Contest.

Due to the rising tensions, the VRT is questioning the future Belgian participation in the Song Contest, especially if the organizer EBU does not offer transparency about the counting of points. The broadcaster wonders whether the current system is still fair and sees that the Eurovision Song Contest seems to be less and less of a unifying and apolitical event.

According to the VRT, Israel was accused in advance of 'vote canvassing', including through advertisements on YouTube and posts by the Israeli government. Whether this is against the rules remains unclear, but according to the VRT, you can certainly question it. Especially if the EBU continues to insist that the festival is 'apolitical'.

Belgium has far from closed the chapter surrounding the Eurovision Song Contest. Criticism is not only directed at Israel's participation, but also at the rules that participating countries and broadcasters must adhere to. According to VRT face Xavier Taveirne, who was chairman of the Belgian professional jury during the Eurovision Song Contest, the EBU's attitude comes "very close to the border of censorship". He said this in the programme De Afspraak .

One of the biggest sticking points is that commentators have to refrain from criticizing participating countries during the broadcast. For example, Spain was reprimanded because their commentators referred to the conflict in the Middle East during the Israeli act. He also notes that Finland had to change the song under pressure from the organization.

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