Public broadcasters in Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain and Slovenia on Thursday pulled out of next year's Eurovision Song Contest after organizers decided to allow Israel to compete, putting political discord on center stage over a usually joyful celebration of music.

The walkouts came after the general assembly of the European Broadcasting Union — a group of public broadcasters from 56 countries that runs the glitzy annual event — met to discuss concerns about Israel's participation, which some countries oppose over its conduct of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.