Israel booed during Eurovision semi final after being given stern formal warning

One of Eurovision's acts was booed during the first live semi-final, as the country received a formal warning after asking viewers to vote '10 times'.

Last night (12 May) saw the first 10 countries voted through to Saturday's final in Vienna – however, it wasn't without drama.

Israeli entrant Noam Bettan was booed as he took to the stage to perform his song 'Michelle', with chants of 'Stop, stop the genocide' being heard in the crowd.

The chant is in relation to Israel's military action in Gaza, which has seen an estimated 70,000 Palestinians die (per BMJ) since the conflict began in October 2023 and has been labelled a genocide by a United Nations commission.

Israel has maintained that its actions were legitimate and in self-defence following the 7 October 2023 attacks by Hamas, a militant group which governs the Gaza Strip.

Videos taken on X also showed protestors inside the venue being escorted out by police during Battan's performance.

Israel's qualification for this weekend's final comes after the country's national broadcaster, Kan, received a formal warning from the EBU over videos asking viewers to vote for the country 10 times.

According to The Independent, Bettan was filmed telling fans to use all 10 of their semi-final votes to support his performance. The 28-year-old is said to have recorded the videos in French, German, English, Greek and Italian.

Confirming that Israel had been given a formal warning, Eurovision director Martin Green said: "Within 20 minutes, we had contacted the Kan delegation to ask them to immediately stop any distribution of the videos and remove them from any platforms where they had been published.

"They immediately acted to do this."

🇮🇱 Eurovision just turned into a live episode of Cops.

Israel drops their song and the arena explodes with “Stop, stop the genocide” chants… then security drags a protester out in handcuffs mid-performance.

Bro came to sing one song and the entire arena turned it into a UN… pic.twitter.com/YbHdhgytNF

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) May 12, 2026

🇮🇱A protester against Israel was arrested inside the arena during Israel performance pic.twitter.com/m8f7bCvdGT

— Eurovision News (@EurovisionNewZ) May 12, 2026

Meanwhile, Israel's participation in the 2026 competition led to nationwide boycotts, with Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Iceland and Slovenia all withdrawing from the competition in protest.

Here is what each country said about the decision to withdraw:

Spain

Addressing the decision to withdraw, RTVE José Pablo López said: "As joint organisers of the Eurovision song contest, we share a collective responsibility. While Israel has regularly participated in the competition, the current events and the genocide currently taking place make it impossible for us to look the other way.

"It is not accurate to claim that Eurovision is merely an apolitical music festival. We are all aware that the contest carries significant political implications. The Israeli government is equally aware of this fact and leverages the event on the international stage."

Ireland

Confirming that they would not be participating or airing the programme this year, Irish national broadcaster RTE said: "RTE feels that Ireland’s participation would be unconscionable given the ongoing and appalling loss of lives in Gaza.

“RTE is also deeply concerned by the targeted killing of journalists in Gaza, and the denial of access to international journalists to the territory, and the plight of the remaining hostages."

Israel denies targeting journalists in Gaza.

The Netherlands

Sharing Ireland's concerns over the treatment of journalists covering the war, Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS cited 'deep concern about the serious erosion of press freedom: the deliberate exclusion of independent international reporting and the many casualties among journalists'.

Iceland

"Participation of Israeli national broadcaster, Kan, in the contest has created disunity among both members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the general public," read a statement from Icelandic broadcaster RÚV.

"RÚV has repeatedly raised concerns that various Icelandic stakeholders, such as artist associations and the general public, were opposed to participation in the contest.

"Furthermore, RÚV had requested the EBU to exclude KAN from the contest in accordance to precedents.

"It is a complex matter, which has already damaged the contest's reputation and EBU, emphasising the necessity of a solution for all concerned parties."

Slovenia

Like Ireland, Slovenia will also not be airing the 2026 contest, with RTV Slovenia director Ksenija Horvat telling The Associated Press: "We will not be broadcasting the Eurovision Song Contest. We will be airing the film series Voices of Palestine, featuring Palestinian documentaries and feature films."