A fan asked Nick Cave if she should boycott Israel at Eurovision. His answer was particularly sharp

A fan from Australia reached out to Nick Cave on his website, The Red Hand Files, asking if she should sign a petition calling on countries participating in Eurovision to boycott the contest due to Israel's participation and its qualification for the final. Cave answered her briefly:

"Find a new friend."

"A friend has just asked me to sign a petition that asks countries participating in Eurovision to boycott the contest because of Israel's participation and now also its qualification for the final," wrote the fan, Leah from Melbourne. "I won't sign, because I feel there must be lovely people in Israel who don't like the actions of their government. And those who just want to make music. And it may be that these groups overlap."

Leah added that she has recently been enjoying the music of Israeli artist Noga Erez and asked if she should stop because of Israel: "Should I not, because the government of the country where she was born are murderous sociopaths? What should I do?"

The calls for a boycott in Australia surrounding the Eurovision contest and the participation of Israelis in cultural events are taking place against a backdrop of growing public and political tension. Since the outbreak of the war in 2023, there has been a sharp increase in reports of antisemitic incidents in Australia, alongside an intensification of cultural and academic boycotts by pro-Palestinian organizations and political activists. Various bodies in Australia have leveled harsh criticism at Israel and demanded that the public broadcaster SBS boycott Eurovision; however, the management of SBS rejected the demands, clarifying that it would continue to broadcast the contest out of a commitment to neutrality and journalistic independence.