This is the EBU's burden and it's blown up in their face. Only time will tell if it was the right decision. In the meantime, Eurovision 2026 will continue to be about the politics, not the music :(

Ultimately, I think the decision of Spain, Ireland, Slovenia and the Netherlands makes sense. They have not called for Kan to be removed from the EBU (like the Russian broadcaster was). They want Israel removed from Eurovision because Israel broke the rules. That should have been a reasonable ask.

The EBU may have destroyed the brand of the contest for nothing. However, if they had expelled Israel then other, bigger, countries (Germany, UK) would have reacted badly. It was a lose lose situation. That doesn't excuse how it was handled.

So that's the dilemma for the EBU: protect a member broadcaster in a time of crisis or throw brand "Eurovision" under the bus. They tried to have it both ways by *tweaking* the rules to avoid interference with voting. It wasn't enough.

Now, I don't know if Kan, the Israeli broadcaster, is sufficiently independent of the Israeli Government. But, the EBU thinks it is better to protect Kan than to let it be destroyed by Netanyahu. *Eurovision* saves Kan because, as above, the Israeli Government cares about Eurovision.

The protection of public broadcasting (and impartial news) is *even more* important when the State in question is committing violations of international law. A public broadcaster is supposed to hold that Government to account.

And this comes back to the whole purpose of the EBU (which organises Eurovision). The EBU is a union of public broadcasters. It's entire mission is to protect public broadcasting. It therefore sees protecting the Israeli broadcaster as *existential*.

It was in the Israeli government's interest that Israel did well in Eurovision this year - and so they tried to buy it for PR reasons. But removing Israel from the contest is not that simple. Because, again, Israel doesn't participate - their public broadcaster does.

Now, you might say there is no discernible difference. And you would potentially be right. This year, there was clear evidence of Israeli *Government* interference in the voting which was arguably against the rules, and certainly against the spirit of the competition.

An absolute disaster for #eurovision that 4 countries have been left with no option but to boycott because of Israel's participation. However, lets not forget the nuance. Israel does not participate in Eurovision. The Israeli Public Broadcaster participates in Eurovision.

My 10 #eurovision qualifiers (in order of probability):

🇸🇪
🇺🇦
🇵🇱
🇳🇱
🇦🇱
🇧🇪
🇳🇴
🇨🇾
🇪🇪
🇸🇮

That song from Croatia is the worst racket I've ever heard in #eurovision

He has been a fan of Erika Vikman since Cicciolina so was supporting her this year.

The new #eurovision mascot is just the boujie European version of the Partick Thistle's horror mascot.

Am I correct that Justyna from 🇵🇱 will break the record of longest gap between #Eurovision appearances this year? (30 years!)

"Take a breath and breathe" is an absolutely heinous lyric, John Lundvik. #melfest

What kinda club is gonna play this? 😅

"ENGLAND" 😱😱😱

Bit of a flaw in #TheTraitors that the last people to arrive for breakfast are always faithfuls that the traitors were considering for the chop. If these players have watched previous seasons they should know that...