Eurovision Director Says Voting System Is Fair and Secure as Israel Qualifies for Final

Eurovision Song Contest director Martin Green told the BBC that organizers are watching voting patterns "very, very carefully" after the European Broadcasting Union issued a formal warning to Israeli broadcaster Kan. The warning followed the release last weekend of videos by the Israeli contestant instructing fans to vote 10 times for Israel.

Eurovision said the posts were not in the spirit of the competition and instructed that they be removed.

Martin Green agreed that some of the promotion by some of the broadcasters was a little disproportionate. He said if there is a problem, organizers start a conversation and try to resolve it amicably without reaching for sanctions. "We're a long way from any of that," Green told the BBC's Nomia Iqbal.

Martin Green has been director of the contest since 2024. He previously acted as head of ceremonies for the 2012 London Olympics and was chief creative officer of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Israel qualified for the 2026 Eurovision grand final from the first semi-final in Vienna, Austria on Tuesday night. Israeli contestant Noam Bettan is among the favourites for this year's contest. Voting figures will not be released for the semi-finals until after the main contest has concluded.

Questions were raised over last year's results after Israel topped the public vote despite getting only 60 points from the national juries. Israel received 83 percent of its points from the public vote last year.

An Israeli government advertising agency paid for online adverts and encouraged social media users to back the Israeli song last year. The EBU found no evidence of irregularities in last year's voting. In November the EBU approved new rules halving the vote limit to 10.

The EBU's new rules discourage disproportionate promotion campaigns by third parties including governments. The EBU made it mandatory for online voters to provide credit card details to verify country of origin. Jury votes have returned to the semi-final stages.

Six juries traded votes at the 2022 contest in Turin, Italy. Martin Green said the current voting system is fair, true and secure. "We are very consistent," he said. "We have one of the best voting systems for the public in the world.

Five broadcasters announced they would boycott the 2026 competition last November. The five boycotting broadcasters include Spain, the Netherlands and Ireland. Martin Green said he hoped the boycotting broadcasters would return.

"We've got 35 members of our family here, and that's enough to have a big party," he said. " Martin Green said there are 35 members of the family participating and five are absent.