Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Iceland, and Slovenia are boycotting this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna in protest of Israel’s participation, reports one of the boycotting broadcasters, Ireland’s RTÉ. It is the largest coordinated withdrawal in the contest’s 70-year history, leaving only 35 countries competing—the lowest number in more than a decade. More than 2,000 artists have also signed a public call for a boycott, citing the war in Gaza.
Ireland, Slovenia, and Spain will not even broadcast the contest—the first time it has gone unaired in those countries in at least four decades.
The boycott serves as a marker of how far public sentiment in Europe has moved against Israel’s actions.