Alex Agius Saliba wants Israel banned from Eurovision 2025

Labour MEP Alex Agius Saliba has written to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) asking it to bar Israel from taking part in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.

Agius Saliba, who also serves as vice president of the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) group, wrote the letter with Slovenian MEPs Mattias Nemec and Irena Joveva demanding Israel’s exclusion from the upcoming contest, as the military siege on Gaza surpasses 18 months.

“Countries who violate international law should not be allowed to take part in a festival that promotes unity,” the Maltese MEP wrote in a social media post.

The letter describes Israel’s actions in Gaza and the West Bank as persistent human rights violations and war crimes that have gone unpunished. It asks the EBU to take a firm stance. The MEPs argue that allowing Israel to compete undermines the contest’s values of cooperation and solidarity, and risks further politicising the event.

The signatories also criticised the EBU for dismissing similar calls last year, which they say contributed to mounting controversy during the 2024 edition—including the expulsion of the Netherlands’ entry, a ban on EU flags at the final, and increased security threats.

Rather than keeping politics out of Eurovision, the EBU’s inaction had the opposite effect, they said.

They warned that failure to act this year would render the EBU complicit in ongoing violations and perpetuate a lack of accountability for what has become one of the deadliest military campaigns in the 21st century. According to the MEPs, more than 50,000 civilians have lost their lives.

The letter also pointed to the EBU’s decision in 2022 to suspend Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, arguing that the same standard should now apply to Israel in light of credible reports of war crimes and warnings of genocide.

Despite the mounting pressure, Israel remains a strong contender in the competition, with bookmakers placing it fourth in the odds to win. Represented by 24-year-old Yuval Raphael, Israel’s entry ‘New Day Will Rise’ is set to compete in the 69th edition of the contest, with semi-finals scheduled for 13 and 15 May in Basel, Switzerland, and the grand final on 17 May.

Raphael, from central Israel, survived the October 7 Nova music festival massacre by hiding among the dead.

Agius Saliba is the only Maltese MEP to publicly back the call for Israel’s exclusion. The EBU has not yet responded to the letter.