Eurovision director Martin Green has been criticised for his response to countries boycotting the competition, which failed to mention Gaza or Palestine.

Following the withdrawal of Ireland, Spain, Iceland, Slovenia and the Netherlands, Green published an open letter on Eurovision’s website.

In the letter, Green said many Eurovision fans will “feel strongly about events in the Middle East and how these realities connect to the Eurovision Song Contest”.

“No one can fail to be moved by what we have seen in the region in the past few years,” he wrote. “Some of you have written to us, spoken out, or expressed anger and pain at what they see as silence in the face of tragedy. I want to say that we hear you. We understand why you feel so strongly and that we care too.”

Green goes on to write that the song contest has a “privileged role to offer a space where millions can celebrate what connects us”.

 

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“A space where music takes centre stage. A space that welcomes everyone – whoever you are, wherever you are, and whatever your views are about the world around us,” he wrote.

Regarding the withdrawal of Ireland, Spain, Iceland, Slovenia and the Netherlands, Green said the Eurovision team respects this decision and hopes these countries will return to the competition in the future.

On social media, the letter released by the Eurovision director was criticised for failing to address the key issue that prompted the withdrawal of countries – Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

The Eirevision Podcast shared the statement on Instagram, and in the comments, one user described the letter as “word salad”, while another said it was “absolutely pointless” because it did not disqualify Israel from next year’s competition.

Another social media user described the letter as “painfully empty and out of touch”.

Last week, Nemo, who won the Eurovision Song Contest for Austria in 2025, announced that they would be returning their trophy in protest.

In a video shared on Instagram, Nemo said: “Eurovision says it stands for unity, inclusion, and dignity for all […] But Israel’s continued participation, during what the UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry has concluded to be a genocide, shows a clear conflict between those ideals and the decisions made by the EBU.”

Over the weekend, Charlie McGettigan, who won Eurovision alongside Paul Harrington for Ireland in 1994, announced that he supports Nemo’s decision and would also return his trophy, once he finds it.