Five European countries boycotted the Eurovision Song Contest final in Vienna on Saturday, and thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of the Austrian capital, in the largest withdrawal in the competition's 70-year history. Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Iceland and Slovenia all refused to participate, citing the European Broadcasting Union's (EBU) decision to allow Israel to compete despite its ongoing war in Gaza. Their national broadcasters largely declined to air the event, with Ireland's public broadcaster RTÉ instead screening a Eurovision-themed episode of the classic sitcom Father Ted.

The boycotting countries and protest organisers drew a pointed comparison with the EBU's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, after which Russian broadcasters were banned from the contest. Amnesty International Secretary-General Agnès Callamard called the EBU's refusal to suspend Israel