Her prime minister SpainPedro Sanchez, said today (19.05.2025) that the Israel must be excluded from her contest Eurovision For the sake of “solidarity with the Palestinian people living the absurdity of war and bombings”.
On Saturday (17.05.2025), Spain’s public television defied the European Broadcasting Union organization, which belongs to Eurovision, broadcasting a message of support to the Palestinians and Gaza before the broadcast of its big final competition, despite the fact that EBU had warned to stop references to attack on Gaza by threatening to impose sanctions.
«We cannot have double measures and weights in terms of culture“, Pedro Sanchez said, saying that if Russia was excluded from the competition after the invasion of Ukraine, nor Israel would have to participate.
“Spain’s commitment to international law and human rights must be constant and consistent, as it should be the whole of Europe,” the Spanish prime minister explained, adding that he must be solidarity with the people of Palestine “who lives his absurdity war and of their bombing“, The Spanish prime minister added.
The message broadcast by Spanish public television wrote, “When it comes to human rights, silence is not an option. Peace and justice for Palestine», White letters on a black background in Spanish and English a few seconds before the official launch of the Eurovision competition.
‘I don’t think one was shocked when We demanded Russia’s exclusion From international events, including, as we saw Eurovision on the weekend. Well, so nor is Israel to participate. Because we cannot have two measures and two weights in terms of culture, “Sanchez said.
Spain, which recognized the state of Palestine on 28 May 2024 along with the Ireland and Norwayhas evolved in recent months into one of the most critical voices of the European Union against the Benjamin Netanyahu government and has historically supported the Palestinian case.
In April, RTVE had asked EBU to discuss Israel’s presence at Eurovision due to concerns about the situation in Gaza.
RTVE stressed that still supports Eurovision as a cultural eventbut believes that EBU should take into account the feelings of Spanish viewers and broadcasting actors who question Israel’s involvement.
RTVE chief Jose Pablo Lopez stressed that the request was not exclusively political issuebut reflects the concerns that many expressed in Spain from various areas of society.
In fact, it has caused a storm of reactions and the Spanish rating in this year’s Israeli participation, from which the coveted 12th to Yuval Raphael, which the Spaniards do not accept and call to be done re -checking and counting votes delivered by Spanish state television.