Ireland’s decision to boycott Eurovision because of Israeli participation has been labelled “quite pathetic” by one of the country’s most prominent journalists. 

As well as Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands and Slovenia have all announced that they will not participate in the song competition next year. 

RTÉ said entering Eurovision would be “unconscionable given the appalling loss of lives in Gaza", while Dutch broadcaster Averos said that "participation cannot be reconciled with the public values that are fundamental to our organisation". 

On Newstalk Breakfast, founder of the Jerusalem Journal Avi Mayer described it as an “unfortunate decision”. 

“It’s quite pathetic,” he said. 

“One might compare this to a toddler taking his toys home when things don’t quite go his way. 

“The reality is that there are no grounds to ban the Israeli broadcaster from Eurovision. Israelis are not viewed as being in violation of the EBU’s rules; no one has alleged that it is. 

“This is simply a punitive measure against Israel for what some view as its participation in human rights abuses - which, of course, other countries have also been accused of; yet others have not been banned from this competition.

“That’s exactly what this competition is [not] supposed to be about; this is a competition about music, about brotherhood, about international co-operation. 

“We don’t punish broadcasters for their Governments’ policies, this is not what Eurovision does.” 

The Israeli flag outside the former Embassy in Dubli. Picture by: Sasko Lazarov/RollingNews.ie.

Mr Mayer urged Ireland and the other countries to reconsider the boycott, noting Israel is not the only country dogged by controversy in the competition. 

“There are any number of countries that are engaged in wars, territorial disputes, alleged violations of human rights,” he said. 

“There’s Turkey, which is engaged in several territorial disputes simultaneously. 

“There’s Azerbaijan, Armenia, Greece; Cyprus has a territorial dispute. 

“Those countries aren’t being banned… Somehow, that opprobrium is only targeted at the Jewish State. 

“So, it causes many Israelis to wonder why? So many Israelis rightly wonder, why is it that only the Jewish State is subjected [to this].”  

Calls for a Eurovision boycott outside RTÉ. Picture by: Alamy.com.

Advocates of a boycott have argued that it is necessary given the accusations of genocide in Gaza levelled against Israel. 

Israel has long denied such accusations, insisting it has acted out of self-defence. 

Despite this, in September, the UN Pillay Commission concluded that Israel had in fact committed genocide during the conflict, describing the country as “responsible for the commission of four genocidal acts in Gaza with the specific intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza”. 

However, Mr Mayer described the report as “far from independent”. 

“It is a commission that has been riddled by accusations of antisemitism - including all of its members, who have long records of antisemitic comments,” he said. 

“So, no, I absolutely reject that there has been any kind of reputable international finding that Israel is indeed guilty of that most heinous crimes. 

“We will have to wait and see what the ICJ rules in the future. At the moment, there has been no such finding.” 

Eurovision 2026 will be held in May in the Austrian capital of Vienna. 

Main image: Singer Yuval Raphael holds the Israeli flag during a dress rehearsal for the Grand Final of the 69th Eurovision Song Contest. Picture by: AP Photo/Martin Meissner.