Eurovision emergency vote on Israel's inclusion is called off

An emergency vote on Israel's participation in the Eurovision Song Contest has been called off following developments in the Middle East, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has said.

Contest organisers had scheduled "an extraordinary meeting of [its] general assembly to be held online" in early November after several countries said they would no longer take part in Eurovision if Israel participated. The EBU said in a statement that following "recent developments in the Middle East" the executive board had agreed on Monday that there should be an in-person discussion among members "on the issue of participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026".

It said the matter had now been added to the agenda of its winter general assembly, which will take place in December. Further details about the session would be shared with EBU members in the coming weeks, it added.

It is not clear if a vote will still take place at a later date. Austria is hosting next year's show in Vienna.

The country's national broadcaster, ORF, told Reuters news agency it welcomed the EBU's decision. Sky News has contacted Israeli broadcaster KAN for comment.

Faced with controversy over the conflict in Gaza, Eurovision - which labels itself a non-political event - had said member countries would vote on whether Israel should or shouldn't take part. Slovenia and broadcasters from Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland and Iceland had all issued statements saying if Israel was allowed to enter, they'd consider boycotting the contest.

As one of the "Big Five" backers of Eurovision, Spain's decision to leave the competition would have a significant financial impact on the event - which is the world's largest live singing competition. In September, a letter from EBU president Delphine Ernotte Cunci, said "given that the union has never faced a divisive situation like this before" the board agreed it "merited a broader democratic basis for a decision".

Read more:Why Eurovision vote on Israel might not stop boycottCould Eurovision boycott lead to a competition crisis? On Monday, Palestinian militant group Hamas freed the last living Israeli hostages from Gaza, and Israel released busloads of Palestinian detainees, under a ceasefire deal aimed at bringing an end to the two-year war in the Middle East. The war began when Hamas stormed into Israel on October 7 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage.

Israel invaded Gaza in retaliation, with airstrikes and ground assaults devastating much of the enclave and killing more than 67,000, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Its figures do not differentiate between civilians and combatants but it says around half of those killed were women and children..