Here’s everything that went down in Vienna this week — from on-air chants to a five-country walkout.
Eurovision 2026 has been rocked by protests, with Israel’s semi-final performance by Noam Bettan disrupted by audible chants during the live broadcast in Vienna.
As Bettan took the stage with ‘Michelle’, microphones picked up calls of “Free Palestine” and “Stop the genocide,” cutting through the international feed for close to a minute.
Organisers later confirmed that four audience members were removed from the Wiener Stadthalle for disruptive behaviour.
The moment comes amid a wider backlash surrounding Israel’s participation, with Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Iceland and Slovenia all withdrawing from this year’s contest.
Adding to the pressure, the European Broadcasting Union recently issued a warning to Israeli broadcaster KAN over promotional material encouraging coordinated voting – a breach of contest rules.
Despite the disruption, Bettan has qualified for Saturday’s Grand Final.
The EBU says it will implement a “clean audio feed” for the broadcast, but after this week, keeping politics out of Eurovision is looking harder than ever.
