LONDON: Eurovision organizers have issued a formal warning to Israeli broadcaster KAN after it urged viewers to “vote 10 times” for Israel’s entry in the 2026 contest.
The European Broadcasting Union said that KAN breached the rules by sharing videos on social media encouraging fans to support Noam Bettan, who is competing with the song “Michelle.”
“Within 20 minutes, we had contacted the KAN delegation to ask them to immediately stop any distribution of the videos and remove them from any platforms where they had been published,” Eurovision Director Martin Green said. “They immediately acted to do this.”
In the clips, Bettan asked fans to use all 10 of their allotted votes to back him in the first semifinal on Tuesday, May 12.
The message, recorded in 13 languages including French, German, English, Greek and Italian, was backed by KAN and found to breach new rules designed to limit third-party campaigning.
The EBU said that it would continue to monitor promotional activity and take “appropriate steps as necessary,” but stopped short of disciplinary action.
The warning comes amid growing controversy over Israel’s participation in Eurovision, which faces its biggest boycott in the contest’s 70-year history.
Five countries — Spain, Slovenia, Ireland, the Netherlands and Iceland — withdrew from the 2026 event after Israel was allowed to compete again.
Spanish broadcaster RTVE said that the decision reflected a “collective responsibility,” adding that while Israel had long taken part in the contest, the current situation made it impossible to look away.
The backlash follows Israel’s strong public-vote performance in 2025, which prompted allegations of coordinated online campaigning and led the EBU to tighten voting rules.
Earlier calls to exclude Israel over the war in Gaza also intensified the dispute, echoing the bloc’s decision to ban Russia after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The row has also spilled onto the Eurovision stage itself, with recent events marked by protests and disruptions during Israeli performances.
Eurovision 2026 begins this week in Vienna, with the first semifinal on Tuesday, May 12, followed by the second on Thursday, May 14. The grand final will take place on Saturday.
