Viewers supported Israel at Eurovision, while some juries treated the country as a political football. As Eurovision 2026 drew near, four nations—Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, and Slovenia—decided to withdraw after Israel was cleared to compete. A look back at past voting reveals a pattern: in several instances, these countries’ professional juries were less favorable toward Israel, even as many of their audiences still rewarded the performance. This dynamic suggests that boycotting countries may miss out more than they realize, since the public vote often carried Israel higher on the scoreboard.
In the 2025 competition, Israel’s representative, Yuval Raphael, received 60 points from juries. Ireland’s juries gave just 7 points, the Netherlands’ juries 5 points, and Slovenia and Spain awarded zero jury points. Yet home viewers totaled 297 points for Raphael, helping him secure a strong second place overall. The fans in the Netherlands and Spain, two of the boycott countries, gave the Israeli song maximum weights of 12 points each, while Irish viewers contributed 10 points and Slovenian viewers 6.
Translated into the broader picture, Israel collected 52 points from these four withdrawing countries in 2025, with jury points totaling 12 and audience points totaling 40. If the voting from these four nations had been canceled entirely, Austria still emerged victorious with a sizable lead, though Israel’s number of points would have shifted enough to change some perceptions of the race.
A similar pattern appeared in 2024. After the war began, the same four countries continued to reward Israel via the public vote despite giving zero to the Israeli entry from their juries. The Netherlands and Spain each granted 12 points, all from viewers, while Ireland and Slovenia provided 10 points each from the public. Juries, by contrast, remained noncommittal toward Israel in that year as well.
Looking further back, in 2023 Israel was represented by Noa Kirel and finished third overall. While Armenia and Azerbaijan each awarded Israel 24 points that year, these countries would later become more sparing in their support amid regional tensions.
Historically, the free-wlying public has often shown more warmth toward Israeli entries than the professional juries from some of these four countries. In 2022, Israel did not qualify for the final, and 2021 saw modest points from the Netherlands, Spain, and Slovenia, with Ireland not awarding points to Israel as part of a broader wave of neutral or critical reactions.
In 2019, when Tel Aviv hosted Eurovision, Kobi Marimi’s entry earned points across several nations, but not from the then-boycotting countries. In 2018, Netta Barzilai’s victory showcased a strong public interest, with Spain awarding 22 points and the Netherlands’ jury awarding only 5 points, highlighting a divergence between public enthusiasm and jury judgments.
The data indicate that sympathy toward Israel existed in at least three of the four countries now choosing to boycott. Their withdrawal, however, would not dramatically alter the final standings given the large field of participating nations. The real impact would fall on the viewers in Slovenia, Spain, Ireland, and the Netherlands—who will miss out on the spectacle and excitement of Eurovision, a show that continues to captivate audiences across Europe and beyond.
Would you agree that public sentiment often outpaces expert panels in Eurovision, or do juries still reliably steer the outcome? How do you think the presence or absence of these four countries shapes the overall competition this year?
