The public broadcasters of both Ireland and the Netherlands announced this week that they will not participate in next year’s Eurovision Song Contest if Israel is allowed to participate.

They join several other countries in pressing the competition’s organizer, the European Broadcasting Union, into excluding Israel as an act of protest against Israel’s participation because of the war in Gaza.

The EBU has until now resisted entreaties to bar Israel but now faces a crisis as Europe — both through its unified institutions and as individual countries — has sought to ramp up pressure on Israel to end the war, which began when Hamas attacked on Oct. 7, 2023.

“RTÉ feels that Ireland’s participation would be unconscionable given the ongoing and appalling loss of lives in Gaza,” the Irish publi

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