Alex Agius Saliba is one of several MEPs to have signed a letter to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), requesting for Israel's Eurovision entry this year to be barred from participating in this May's Eurovision Song Contest.
PL MEP and S&D Vice-President Alex Agius Saliba published a concise statement on this on his social media pages.
"Countries who violate international law should not be allowed to take part in a festival that promotes unity," Agius Saliba said.
Israel are currently bookmakers' fourth-placed favourites to win Eurovision 2025. With this year's edition a full month away, Israel presently has a 6% winning chance, according to betting odds, trailing only the entries being sent up by Sweden, Austria, and France respectively.
Should the MEPs' request not be taken up by the EBU, Israel will be represented by 24-year-old Yuval Raphael with her song "New Day Will Rise."
MEPs are making this plea in the context that Israel has continued decimating Gaza and the Palestinian people for 551 days since Hamas' infamous October 7th attacks of 2023.
Amidst this continued conflict and genocide, Israel has been repeatedly condemned for violating international law by the United Nations.
Amongst its "most egregious violations," according to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Israel has committed crimes against humanity not limited to murder, torture, sexual violence, repeated forced displacement, war crimes relating to "indiscriminate attacks" on civilians, "objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population," educational institutions, and cultural heritage, promoting starvation as a weapon of war, targeting healthcare workers and health facilities, restricting humanitarian aid, attacking humanitarian workers, and attacking journalists.
Agius Saliba is, at the time of publishing, the only Maltese MEP to declare signing this letter.