A campaign by Eurovision fans calls out the EBU for unfairly targeting Israel

A growing movement among Eurovision enthusiasts worldwide is voicing strong opposition to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), accusing it of unfairly singling out Israel's participation in the 70th edition of the song contest. This fan-led campaign emerged after the EBU's managing director, Martin Green, issued a formal warning to KAN, Israel's public broadcaster.

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On Friday, 8 May, it was brought to our attention that videos with an on-screen instruction to 'vote 10 times for Israel' had been published and released by the artist representing KAN. 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. They immediately acted to do this.

The EBU's concern stemmed from promotional videos featuring Israeli representative Noam Bettan, which reportedly included explicit instructions for viewers to cast all ten of their votes for Israel. While the EBU acknowledged that these videos did not constitute a large-scale, third-party funded campaign as prohibited by new rules, Green stated that a direct call to vote multiple times for one artist goes against the spirit of the competition. KAN was instructed to immediately remove the videos from all platforms.

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The Voting Instructions of the Eurovision Song Contest that cover promotion are predominantly directed at discouraging large-scale funded third-party campaigns, and we are satisfied that this video did not form part of such a campaign. However, employing a direct call to action to vote 10 times for one artist or song is also not in line with our rules nor the spirit of the competition…

Fans, however, are pushing back vigorously. In messages circulated among chat groups, they argue that the EBU's response is excessive and appears to be driven by external political pressures rather than a genuine adherence to the rules. They contend that the promotional materials were a standard effort by the artist and broadcaster, not a violation of the strict regulations against funded campaigns. This sentiment highlights a perceived double standard and a feeling of targeted harassment against the Israeli team, which fans believe detracts from the celebratory nature of the Eurovision Song Contest.

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Nevertheless, we have issued a formal warning letter to KAN and will continue to monitor any promotional activities carefully and take appropriate action where needed.