London's Jewish community radio station KOL London and the Jewish Chronicle newspaper both report that the public service broadcasting body in the Netherlands, NPO, has again withdrawn from the 2027 Eurovision Song Contest after previously indicating that they would take part. Several states including the Republic of Ireland and Spain, have withdrawn from the contest in protest at the participation of Israel. Technically speaking, Eurovision has been strictly non-political, but in practice, there is also a long standing tradition of political songs and stances being taken over a variety of issues. Because of the complicated way public broadcasting is set up in the Netherlands, several stations are involved (whereas in Ireland, only one public broadcaster, RTE, exists). NPO, the central coordinating body of the Dutch public broadcasting system, had said in September that the country would take part in 2027, after sitting out this year’s iteration in protest at the Jewish State’s participation. Avrotros, the broadcaster within its network traditionally responsible for the Dutch entry, had declined for a second time to organise an entry, but NPO said it would coordinate one instead. Now, NPO have reversed that decision and say that there will be no Dutch entry for 2027. Ms Jet de Ranitz, who chairs NPO Netherlands, said "we believe it is important to serve all Dutch people, including those who hold the Eurovision Song Contest dear and would like to see the Netherlands participate again. “We are convinced that the Eurovision Song Contest belongs on public television, as one of the largest international cultural events centered on music, connection, and diversity.” However, she concluded that "due to the sensitivities surrounding the themes currently at play, we have decided to take a step back for the time being”. The European Broadcasting Union, which represents scores of broadcasters across the continent and handles issues such as interference complaints at a supranational level, as well as facilitating pan-European broadcasts such as the "Christmas Across Europe" festival transmitted annually by BBC Radio 3 in Britain, as well as Eurovision, said that Israel had fully paid up to the EBU and was therefore entitled to be in the competition. In past decades, other countries outside of a strict definition of Europe have been in Eurovision for the same reason, including Algeria, Tunisia, and Jordan.