Eurovision warns Israel over campaign rule violations

The European Broadcasting Union has formally warned Israel for violating Eurovision Song Contest regulations by broadcasting advertisements requesting mass voting support, according to La Repubblica citing Norwegian broadcaster TV2.

Martin Green, the contest's executive director, confirmed he sent the official notice to Israel days before the competition begins. The advertisements promoted voting exclusively for the Israeli entry, which contravenes Eurovision's strict neutrality and fairness requirements.

Eurovision contest rules explicitly prohibit participating nations from running paid advertising campaigns soliciting votes for their entries. Such campaigns undermine the competition's integrity by creating unequal promotional advantages among contestants.

This marks a repeated violation by Israel, which has previously breached Eurovision regulations during recent editions of the annual music competition. The formal warning represents the EBU's enforcement mechanism but does not automatically result in disqualification or penalties beyond the advisory notice.