Eurovision has by no means been about politics, says BBC boss Tim Davie

BBC director basic Tim Davie has stated the company is “aware of the concerns” round Israel participating in subsequent 12 months’s Eurovision, including that the music contest has “never been about politics”.

Speaking on Monday in entrance of parliament’s public accounts committee, Davie stated the BBC would “work with” Eurovision organisers, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), on the difficulty.

“Eurovision has never been about politics, it should be a celebration of music and culture that brings people together,” he added. “We need to see what the broadcast union decides.”

Fellow broadcasters from Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Iceland and now Spain have all threatened to boycott the occasion if Israel is allowed to participate over the nation’s actions in Gaza.

“We’re very aware of the concerns,” the BBC boss, who can also be on the manager board of the EBU, advised the committee. “It’s obviously a well-debated topic and difficult.

“At this stage we’re supportive of the European Broadcast Union’s work. They are going round discussing with members, working by all of the processes by which they’d be glad to decide come what may.”

He added that it was “actually essential that we attempt to protect” the celebratory element of the contest.

“But at this stage, I’m supporting the European Broadcasting Union’s work, and they should get on with it.”

The EBU will make a final decision at a meeting in December.

On Friday, leaders of the Green parties of England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland urged a potential UK boycott in a joint letter to Davie.

Earlier this year, more than 70 former Eurovision contestants signed a letter calling on the organisers to ban Israel from the 2025 competition in Basel, which Austrian singer JJ won after a nail-biting finish that saw him topple Israel from pole position at the very last minute.

As a result, next summer’s event will be held in the Austrian capital of Vienna.

Spain’s culture minister Ernest Urtasun has now said Israel should not take part, repeating calls made by the country’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, earlier this year.

In 2024, Spain joined Norway and Ireland in acknowledging a Palestinian state and last week, Sánchez accused Israel of genocide and announced a series of measures against it, including an arms embargo.

Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Saar responded by accusing Sanchez’s administration of being antisemitic and of using “wild and hateful rhetoric”.

There have been reports that Germany and Italy have concerns if Israel is expelled without clear legal grounds, and that Germany has publicly supported Israeli broadcaster Kan’s membership of the EBU.

When Russia was expelled from the song contest back in 2022 following its invasion of Ukraine, it was because it was felt Russian broadcasters were no longer independent from the Russian government.

Many within Eurovision don’t think this applies to Israel’s public broadcaster.

Before making this decision, the EBU said it had taken time to consult widely among its membership.

Ukraine went on to win the contest.

In August, the UN-backed food monitor, the IPC, confirmed that famine was taking place in parts of Gaza. Israel is accused of causing the famine through ongoing restrictions on food and medical aid entering the territory.

Israel controls all border crossings into the Gaza Strip, and as the occupying power bears responsibility for protecting civilian life under international law, which includes the prevention of starvation.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly denied starvation is taking place in Gaza and has said that where there is hunger, it is the fault of aid agencies and Hamas.

Israel has regularly denied that its actions in Gaza amount to genocide and says they are justified as a means of self-defence.

Israel launched its war in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 64,871 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

Eurovision is loved for its camp pop hits, soaring ballads and everything inbetween.

But over the years, artists have used their platform to send subtle – and not so subtle – political messages.

In 2023, Switzerland sent an anti-war song, Watergun, while Iceland were fined €5,000 (£4,325) back in 2019 for flying a Palestinian flag during the competition in Tel Aviv.

Dancers for Madonna displayed flags of both Israel and Palestine on their backs, in an apparent display of peace, during the star’s guest performance the same year.

In 2016, Ukraine additionally received the occasion with a music known as 1944 concerning the ethnic cleaning of Crimean Tatars in that 12 months by Soviet forces.