If you feel like you’ve heard more about Israel in the Eurovision in recent years than you ever have in the past, you’re not wrong. Since October 7 and the ensuing war, Israel’s participation in the popular camp song contest — one of Europe’s most beloved television traditions since its founding in 1956, famously helping make ABBA a global sensation — has been in great contention. But this year, the drama feels even bigger.
Let’s talk about it!
Wait, what is The Eurovision Song Contest?
Anyone who grew up watching the Eurovision takes this information for granted, but for the uninitiated, the Eurovision, which you can think of as Europe’s music Olympics, looks like a camp fever dream. Countries compete to win with a different song each year, with musical representatives that range from decked out metal bands to turkey puppets to maudlin ballad singers — who don’t all have to be from the country they represent (that’s how French Canadian Celine Dion came to represent Switzerland in 1988 — earning the country a win — and British-Irish Boy George came to represent San Marino this year, unfortunately not qualifying for the finals).
How does one win the Eurovision? Well, first, your entry has to make it to the top 20 in one of the two semi-finals. And then, like many music competitions, the 20 top entrants’ scores come from both a popular vote and a panel of professional judges. Each country appoints its own panel of judges and opens televoting, and those results get put together and broadcast live at the Eurovision (that process feels like the longest part of the night). Basically, each country is allotted 1 to 8 points to give a different country (you can not vote for your own country, obviously), as well as 10 and 12 points. Earning 12 points, or douze points, from another country is one of the most prestigious honors of the Eurovision. The country that wins gets to host the Eurovision the following year, another great honor and a possible boon to tourism!
OK, but Israel is not in Europe, right? So why does Israel participate in the Eurovision?
The answer is fairly simple. Israel’s national broadcasting, which today is KAN (the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation), is part of the EBU, the European Broadcasting Union, and has been for more than half a century. Many non-European networks are EBU members, and all countries in good standing can choose to participate in the contest, though many don’t. Some Arab countries, for example, refuse to participate as long as Israel is part of the contest, and there are also other reasons why these broadcasters might choose not to participate (it is a big financial investment, after all!).
It’s important to note that it’s these broadcasters, and not the governments of the countries, who send representatives each year; while there is an aspect of representing your country, it’s not meant to be a political one. The broadcasters are mandated to have journalistic freedom and not be tied to a specific government or administration. KAN has been under constant attack and has faced shutdown threats from the current Israeli government.
How long has Israel been part of the Eurovision?
Israel first participated in the contest in 1973. It has won the contest four times: in 1978 with the song “A-Ba-Ni-Bi” (recently featured in “The White Lotus”) by Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta, in 1979 with Milk and Honey’s “Hallelujah,” in 1998 with Dana International’s “Diva” (the first transgender Eurovision winner!) and in 2018 with Netta’s “Toy.”
Who is representing Israel in the Eurovision this year?
Singer Noam Bettan is representing Israel with his song “Michelle.” In recent years, Eurovision representatives have been getting selected through a reality singing competition called “Next Star (to the Eurovision),” a rigorous and widely watched show that allows for popular voting mixed with judges scores, which means it’s really the Israeli public — along with talented judges — who are sending representatives to the Eurovision.
Bettan was already fairly well-known when he participated in the show. He participated in another 2021 reality TV show contest and has several successful singles out. He famously likes to bring his French Jewish heritage to his music, like he does in “Michelle,” which mixes Hebrew, French and English lyrics.
Alright, what is the drama with Israel and the Eurovision this year?
Since 2023, there has been a lot drama when it comes to Israel’s participation in the Eurovision. Eden Golan, who came in 4th place, couldn’t leave her hotel in Malmo unless she was in disguise and was constantly booed on stage. Backstage, she was mostly shunned by other contestants, who refused to be filmed with her, and some drama even got the Israeli delegation moved to a different space.
Yuval Raphael, a Nova festival survivor who represented Israel in 2025 in Basel, was also booed and jeered onstage and faced protests outside the Eurovision. She came in second place.
While Bettan is also facing booing and protesters, the drama really came to a head this year. It is also of a wider scope. Several longtime participants have decided to back out of both participating in and airing the contest, including Ireland, Spain, Slovenia, Iceland and the Netherlands, all to protest Israel’s participation.
But it’s not just people’s anger about the Israel-Hamas War that’s the source of drama. Last year, Eurovision decided to change its voting process, allegedly because of allegations that Israel didn’t play fair and square. A recent New York Times article accuses Israel of using the Eurovision as a “soft power tool,” stating that the Israeli foreign ministry spent money on online promotion and was involved in trying to campaign to keep the country in the contest amid threats of a boycott and a vote to keep Israel out of it that never happened.
While there was nothing in the Eurovision guidelines that made such spending against the rules (the investment from the Israeli government was made unbeknownst to KAN), the EBU changed its policies around promotion this year for what its head said was reason of “perception” rather than any actual untoward findings. (“There is no evidence that Israel, as some Eurovision fans speculated, used bots or other covert tactics to manipulate the vote,” according to the NYTimes report.)
Last year, for example, there were campaigns urging people to vote for Raphael 20 times — the maximum allotted votes per person. This year, when EBU discovered Bettan telling viewers to vote for him 10 times (the maximum allowed this year), they quickly approached KAN to take them down — which the network promptly did.
Where does this leave Israel in the Eurovision?
It leaves the country exactly where it is: ready to compete in the Eurovision finals in Vienna this Saturday, May 16 after a triumphant performance at the first semi-finals on May 12. Israeli audiences will be watching with bated breath; the song is topping the local charts. According to the current betting odds, Finland is projected to win, and Israel to take 5th place.
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