RTÉ receives over 1,000 emails calling for Eurovision boycott

Ireland's national broadcaster has reportedly received 1,448 emails asking it to boycott this year's Eurovision Song Contest - the majority of which are related to Israel's participation in the event.

A spokesperson for RTÉ said many of the emails were written in a "cut and paste style".

Artists both from Ireland and abroad have similarly been putting pressure on broadcasters over Israel's involvement in the spectacle, with Irish entrant Bambie Thug previously insisting that the country should not participate.

In January, over 1,000 musicians from Sweden, this year's host country, and 1,400 artists from Finland, signed open letters urging Israel’s exclusion from this amid the ongoing warfare in Gaza - during which over 31,000 Palestinians, have been killed.

In December the EBU released a statement saying that Eurovision was "for broadcasters - not for governments" and Israel had taken part for 50 years. It said member organisations had agreed that Israel's public broadcaster KAN "complies with all competition rules" and insisted the contest was a "non-political event" - despite banning Russia from taking part in 2022 following the invasion of Ukraine.

Earlier this week, Israeli President, Isaac Herzog requested that 20-year-old Russian-Israeli singer Eden Golan change to her country's Eurovision Song Contest entry, 'October Rain', due to apparent references to the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October in which around 1,200 Israelis were killed.