Palestinian flags will not be banned in the Eurovision audience this year. Austria’s public broadcaster ORF, which will host the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest, announced Tuesday that it will not ban Palestinian flags in the audience and will not obscure boos during Israel’s performance, as was done in previous years, according to the organizers.
“We will allow all official flags that exist in the world, as long as they comply with the law and certain criteria such as size and security risks,” said executive producer Michael Krenn at a press conference organized by ORF. He added: “We will not beautify anything or refrain from showing what is happening, because our role is to present things as they are.”
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A Palestinian flag and an Israeli flag in the audience during Yuval Raphael's 2025 Eurovision performance
(Photo: Gil)
The broadcaster also made clear that it will not mute or obscure booing from the audience, as was done last year during the performance by Israel’s representative, Yuval Raphael. ORF’s head of programming said that “no artificial applause will be added at any stage.”
ORF and the Austrian government have been among the most vocal supporters of Israel’s participation in the contest. Last month, ORF Director General Roland Weissmann visited Israel to express his support.
The final list of countries participating in the 70th edition of Eurovision, set to take place in May in Vienna, was published on Monday. Only 35 countries will take part, the lowest number since 2003.
The participating countries are: Albania, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.
Spain, Slovenia, the Netherlands, Ireland and Iceland withdrew from the contest following Israel’s inclusion.
The first Eurovision semifinal will be held on May 12 and the second two days later, with the grand final scheduled for May 16. The shows will be broadcast on Kan. Israel’s representative will be selected next month on the reality show “The Next Star.”