Germany knows a thing or two about boycotting Jews and where that leads, making its principled stand against banning Israel from this year’s Eurovision contest especially significant.
Ahead of an expected Thursday decision by the European Broadcasting Union on whether Israel should be allowed to participate in the song contest – one it has been a part of since 1973 – Reuters reported that Berlin made it clear: if Israel is barred, Germany will stay away.
Moreover, and perhaps even more noteworthy, the report added that Germany’s national broadcaster will not air the contest to its 83.5 million citizens if Israel is excluded. Austria, scheduled to host the competition, has taken a similar stand.
Berlin’s position should surprise no one. Back in September, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that excluding Israel would be “scandalous,” adding that if Israel were pushed out, “I would support not taking part.”
On the other side of the fence are the countries pushing for Israel’s exclusion – ostensibly over the war in Gaza, even though that war is now over: Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and Iceland. These countries, with a combined population of 74.5 million, have warned they may withdraw if Israel is allowed to participate.
This lineup is unsurprising. Spain and Ireland have long led efforts – predating October 7, 2023 – to delegitimize Israel and place it beyond the pale.
A real-time example emerged again this week when Dublin’s city council considered – but for the time being set aside – a motion to rename a park named after one of its famous sons, Chaim Herzog. Herzog, Israel’s sixth president, was born in Belfast and raised in Dublin.
The council debate on Monday made clear this move was not about the Gaza war; it was about Israel, and its very legitimacy as a country. One councilman drew a direct line between Herzog and Israel’s fight for independence – a fight he framed as a cardinal sin.
And therein lies the crux of the matter.
Wider effort to delegitimize the Jewish state
Moves such as these – like the apparent jaw-dropping decision by the Guinness Book of World Records not to include Israel in its records – are part of a broader effort to delegitimize the Jewish state.
Matnat Chaim, an organization that facilitates voluntary kidney donations, contacted Guinness about an event next month that will bring together 2,000 Israeli kidney donors, in the hopes that it might qualify as a world record.
Guinness’s reply, according to the NGO, was that it was not accepting submissions from Israel or the Palestinian territories. If you live in China, Sudan, Venezuela, Iran, Saudi Arabia, or any number of repressive regimes, you can grill the world’s largest hamburger and have it recorded. But if you live in Israel, apparently not.
To those who insist this is not antisemitism but merely a protest against Israeli policies, consider this: for the overwhelming majority of Jews around the world, Israel is a core pillar of their identity. By saying that Israel cannot appear in a song contest or a record book, they are declaring that a foundational part of Jewish identity is illegitimate, unacceptable, outside the bounds of civilized society.
In effect, these moves are trying to police which expressions of Jewish identity are allowed and which are to be shamed, silenced, or erased.
Herzog’s son, President Isaac Herzog, warned of the dangers of this dynamic back in September.
“The delegitimization of Israel and the attempt to exclude us from every possible arena are moves designed to weaken us. It starts with Eurovision but reaches matters that are vital to us,” he said. “I have seen dangerous processes that begin with Eurovision and end in other places.”
While reasonable people can debate policies, seeking to bar Israel outright from cultural, civic, or symbolic arenas crosses from criticism into something far more corrosive – an attempt to stigmatize a core component of Jewish identity.
Excluding Israel from various platforms does nothing to advance peace. It merely signals that Jewish identity, in its modern national form, is unwelcome.
Germany recognizes this, which is why it has taken such a firm and commendable stance. Its position is a reminder that this type of exclusion should never be normalized, and that attempts to delegitimize an entire people never end well. The Germans, speaking from painful experience, know what they are talking about. The rest of the world should listen.