Malta, The Malta Independent, Inglês

PL MP Edward Zammit Lewis demanded for Malta to pressure the Eurovision Song Contest organisers and threaten to boycott Eurovision 2026 if Israel is allowed to participate.

The ex-Labour Minister said on Wednesday that Malta should join the handful of countries who have already taken this stand.

While discussing a bill that looks to transpose EU law related to sanctions, motivated against Russian individuals amidst Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, Zammit Lewis concluded his intervention through a “sanction” that he believes Malta should take: take a stand against Israel and call to boycott the next edition of the Eurovision Song Contest next May if Israel is allowed to compete.

After mentioning four of the countries who have already declared this position as their own, the Labour Party MP stated that “as a government, we must say that if Israel participates, we must not either.”

So far, national broadcasters from five countries have threatened to boycott Eurovision 2026 in Vienna, Austria on the condition that Israel participates: Ireland, Iceland, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and most notably, Big Five country Spain.

Zammit Lewis said that he couldn’t condemn enough the atrocities being committed against children and women by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in its continued siege in Gaza.

“We must symbolically show that we stand to be counted as a Chamber and not participate,” he said.

Zammit Lewis told the Parliament of Malta during Wednesday’s plenary that Malta must contact the Eurovision Broadcasting Union (EBU) – the Song Contest’s coordinators – and call for Israel’s exclusion, since in his view, the situation between Israel and Palestine is not any less dire than the reason behind Russia’s Eurovision omission in 2022. According to Zammit Lewis, “this is on par, if not worse.”

Russia has been barred from participating in the Eurovision Song Contest since 2022 following its invasion of Ukraine.

The Malta Independent had recently asked Maltese former Eurovision contestants for their opinions on whether Malta should call to boycott the next edition of Eurovision, if Israel is allowed to participate.

Zammit Lewis’ plea comes around three weeks removed since Culture Minister Owen Bonnici declared that Malta intends to participate in Eurovision 2026, irrespective of the EBU’s pending decision on Israel’s participation next month.

Sixteen days prior, Malta formally recognised the State of Palestine during the United Nations’ 80^th General Assembly.