The Netherlands does not participate in Eurovision due to the presence of Israel

Othe Netherlands will also not participate in the 2027 edition of Eurovision, due to Israel's presence in the competition, announced today the Dutch public broadcaster NPO, who was forced to review its position.

The organization went back in its decision to return to the contest after the opposition of several public stations and protests by hundreds of officials against Israel's presence.

The NPO explained that after holding talks with the various public stations, it “found that there is not enough support” to submit a Dutch candidacy, so it decided to suspend preparations for the next issue, scheduled for May, in Bulgaria.

The decision represents a new twist in a controversy that began in August, when Avrotros — a broadcaster traditionally responsible for representing the Netherlands in Eurovision — announced that it would not participate in 2027 due to the presence of Israel and the war in Gaza.

A month later, NPO decided to assume directly the organisation of the application, which triggered strong opposition within the public broadcasting system.

“ Initially, we realized there was enough support for the return. Unfortunately, we were unable to find a suitable formula,” NPO’s chairman Jet de Ranitz acknowledged today.

She said that the talks with the different stations showed that “it is still too early to return” to the festival, justifying the withdrawal by the existing division around the contest.

“ Given the sensitivity of the issues that are currently at issue, we have decided to take a step back,” added Jet de Ranitz.

Around 400 workers from different public media sent, in mid-October, a letter to the director of the NPO entitled “It is not my Eurovision”, in which they demanded the withdrawal of the Dutch candidacy and denounced both the presence of Israel and the way in which the return to the competition was decided.

The signatories said they could not accept “that the desire to participate in an entertainment programme weighs more than the countless lives of people being murdered” and accused the administration of making a decision of great social impact without consulting the stations and their employees.

NPO Media Director Jurre Bosman now acknowledged that Israel’s participation provokes “different reactions in Dutch society” and generates “debate and division”, including between television stations and their collaborators.

“ We just want to send to the festival an artist — or artists — and team members if they can count on the full support of one or more stations ", said Bosman.

The Netherlands had already left Eurovision — like Spain, Ireland, Slovenia and Iceland — due to Avrotros' refusal to participate as long as Israel remained in the competition, among international criticisms of the Israeli military offensive in Gaza and its humanitarian consequences.

In August, Avrotros reaffirmed its rejection of the return in 2027, arguing that the event had lost its neutral character and that the changes introduced by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the festival organizer, did not offer sufficient guarantees.

The NPO tried to delegate the organization of the festival to another public station, but came across the refusal of stations and employees.

So today he said he decided to stop preparations for the festival and pointed out that he will maintain dialogue with the EBU on the future of the contest. Although the Netherlands does not send a representative, the public broadcaster will transmit the two semifinals and the final with comments in Dutch.