BOTH THE TAOISEACH and Tánaiste have said they oppose a boycott of the Eurovision over Israel’s involvement, with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar arguing it would only alienate Israel’s liberal community.

The Tánaiste, on the other hand, said if Ireland chose to boycott the song contest this year it could prove “counterproductive”.

Speaking to The Journal in a pre-Christmas press conference, the Taoiseach said he does not believe a boycott of any sporting event, musical event or competition is the right way to go.

Hundreds of emails have been sent to RTÉ calling on it to boycott the 2024 Eurovision due to Israel’s involvement. 

Israel is expected, as usual, to take part in the contest – but the campaign to launch an Irish boycott gathered pace after official confirmation recently of the 37 countries to take part in next year’s contest in the Swedish city of Malmo.

“It’s one thing for a country to be excluded from a competition, whether it’s a music competition or a sports competition, and we have seen for example, Russia excluded from some competitions.

“But for us to unilaterally boycott something, to remove ourselves from a competition…just because Israel is there, to me that’s biting off your nose to spite your face,” he said.

The Taoiseach said all a boycott serves to do is exclude our own musicians.

The Eurovision Song Contest is organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).

In 2022, the EBU excluded Russia from the competition due to its invasion of Ukraine.

The Taoiseach said while Israel’s involvement in this year’s competition is a decision for the EBU, he cautioned against exclusion.

“Israel is a country of about 9 million people now. That includes 2 million Arabs, Christians, Palestinians. It also includes a lot of people in Israel who are liberals, who do not necessarily support their government, who would like to see a two-state solution.

“The difficulty I think with boycotts is that you can end up ostracising and alienating the people who we actually need to engage with,” the Taoiseach said.

“And let’s not forget that one of the previous winners of the Eurovision was a trans woman, Dana International and there’s a whole society of people in Israel, particularly in Tel Aviv and other places that are liberals, that have a Western liberal outlook,” he added.

Dana International, a trans woman, who won the Eurovision for Israel in 1998 was heralded for bringing trans identity into the mainstream.

The Taoiseach said we need to have regard to the possibility that by ostracising, demonising or excluding Israel from international life “we might actually make it harder for them to make the case for peace”.

Tánaiste Micheál Martin agreed with this sentiment.

He said he could understand why some people might call for a boycott, but he did not feel it would have any impact on the situation in Gaza. 

“I understand why people would call for that and feel they must look at every opportunity, but in terms of its impact I’m not clear that it would have any impact,” he said, stating “there’s a much greater complexity to this issue than is sometimes given credence”.

“I think my own assessment right now, it could potentially have a counterproductive impact,” said Martin to reporters at a roundtable interview in Dublin.

Martin said he had not give consideration to whether Ireland should participate in a boycott, stating that his focus has been on using the bodies and forums available to persuade Israel to stop the war on Gaza.

“I’m not clear that boycotting will create that result,” he said.

In the weeks before Christmas the vast majority of countries in the EU reached the position Ireland has held for some time now, that there is a need for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.

“So persistence, in terms of the various fora that we’re members of, can bring results,” Martin said, although he accepted that progress has been made slowly. 

He added: 

I’m not clear boycotting the Eurovision is going to have any dramatic impact one way or the other.

His comments come as Labour TD Aodhán Ó Ríordáin has called on RTÉ to pull out of next year’s Eurovision. 

Speaking to Newstalk recently, he said: 

“If the Eurovision doesn’t happen because of Israel’s participation then so be it.

“I think in years to come when the history of this conflict is being written, we want a little asterisk beside our name as a country that was different.”

The Tánaiste argues that “sustained pressure” at EU and United Nations level is needed, stating that the manner in which Ireland has approached the issue is more effective in “winning people around to the argument”.

“My only hope is that coming out of all of this, that we do get a political pathway… I am very clear that we need to maintain the focus on the real challenges. Diplomacy is the only way we’re going to get this brought to an end.

“And that’s working with our neighbouring states in the Middle East also. But what’s critical is an immediate ceasefire now, to be followed up by a very serious substantive political action with a view to getting a pathway to a political solution, which ultimately has to be the two state solution,” he concluded. 

A template email calling for the boycott, that has been seen by The Journal, claims that “Israel’s participation in the contest next year brings the entire competition into disrepute”. 

It also noted that Russia was excluded from the competition due to the invasion of Ukraine after the Eurovision organisers said that to do otherwise would “bring the competition into disrepute”.

In the immediate aftermath of the 2022 Ukraine invasion, the EBU said it was “monitoring the situation” and that Russia remained in that year’s competition.

That decision was reversed within 24 hours however. 

As EBU boss and former RTÉ director general Noel Curran explained in an interview with The Journal at that year’s song contest, “it was pretty clear to us that we wouldn’t be able to have Russia take part”.

The EBU told The Journal that Israel would be taking part, saying the country’s participation was confirmed by the executive board. 

The EBU also said the decision to exclude Russia last year was made by governing bodies of the organisation. 

“The Eurovision Song Contest remains a non-political event that unites audiences worldwide through music,” it added.