Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest

Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest
Participating broadcaster	Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC/Kan; 2018–) Formerly Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA; 1973–2017)
Participation summary
Appearances	46 (39 finals)
First appearance	1973
Highest placement	1st: 1978, 1979, 1998, 2018
Host	1979, 1999, 2019
Participation history 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Related articles
Israel Song Festival Kdam Eurovision HaKokhav HaBa The X Factor Israel
External links
Israel's page at Eurovision.tv
For the most recent participation see Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024

Israel has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 46 times since making its debut in 1973. The current Israeli participant broadcaster in the contest is the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC/Kan). Israel has won the contest four times, and has hosted the contest in Jerusalem in 1979 and 1999, and in Tel Aviv in 2019.

Israel's first appearance in the contest in 1973 was successful, with "Ey Sham" performed by Ilanit finishing fourth. Israel then achieved victories in 1978 and 1979, with "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" by Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta, and "Hallelujah" by Milk and Honey. In 1980, the Israeli broadcaster declined to host the contest for a second successive year for financial reasons, and as the date for the contest in the Hague conflicted with Yom HaZikaron – Israeli Memorial Day – Israel did not participate. This is the only instance of a winning country not competing the following year. The country's best results in the 1980s were second-place finishes for "Hora" by Avi Toledano in 1982 and "Hi" by Ofra Haza in 1983. Former winner Izhar Cohen returned to place fifth with "Olé, Olé" in 1985, before "Kan" by Duo Datz finished third in 1991. Israel achieved its third victory in 1998, with "Diva" by Dana International. "Happy Birthday" by Eden then finished fifth in 1999. To date, Israel has the record for most participations and most wins in the contest without ever coming last, but it has placed second to last in the final three times, in 1986, 1993, and 2006, and got nul points from the juries in 2019.

Since the introduction of the semi-finals in 2004, Israel has failed to reach the final six times. In 2005, "HaSheket SheNish'ar" by Shiri Maimon gave the country its tenth top five result, finishing fourth. Having failed to qualify for the final for four consecutive years (2011–14), Israel reached the final in 2015 with "Golden Boy" by Nadav Guedj ultimately finishing ninth, and the country has participated in the final every year since, with the exception of 2022. Israel won the contest for a fourth time in 2018, with "Toy" by Netta.

The Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA) was a member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), thus eligible to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest. It had participated in the contest, representing Israel, since the 18th edition in 1973. In 2017, the IBA was succeeded as national broadcaster by the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC/Kan), which has been in charge of participating in the contest for Israel since the following year.

To date, there have been four Israeli victories in the contest. Izhar Cohen and Alphabeta won in Paris in 1978 with "A-Ba-Ni-Bi". On home ground in Jerusalem the following year, Israel won again, this time with "Hallelujah" performed by Milk and Honey. Unusually, Israel did not defend the title in 1980^[1] (see below). The third victory came almost 20 years later in Birmingham in 1998, when Dana International took top honours with the song "Diva". It took a 20-year wait for Israel to record its fourth victory at the 2018 contest in Lisbon, with the song "Toy" by Netta, earning Israel its highest-ever score of 529 points.

Israel's earliest selections were picked by the IBA. The first singer to represent the country was Ilanit, who finished 4th in 1973. In 1972, while Ilanit was in Germany recording as part of the duo Ilan and Ilanit with her partner Shlomo Tzach, the duo received an offer to represent Germany in that year's contest. Since Israel was eligible to participate, they approached the IBA with a proposal that Ilanit would represent Israel. However, the registration period was over by then and Ilanit was told she could represent Israel in 1973.^[2][3] After she was sent again four years later, it was decided that henceforth the winner of the Hebrew Song Festival would represent Israel. The 1978 and 1979 Israeli Eurovision winners were selected by this method. From 1981, the selection process took place via the Kdam Eurovision with the exception of 1990, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002–2004, 2006–2007, and 2010, when the IBA selected its representatives internally.

After winning the contest in 1978 and 1979, the IBA was financially and logistically unable to organise the event for a second consecutive year. The Netherlands agreed to host the 1980 contest in Israel's place. The date chosen for that year's contest coincided with Yom HaZikaron, Israeli Memorial Day, so Israel could not compete. This made Israel the only country to date unable to defend its title. The 1980 winning song "Pizmon Chozer" by The Brothers & the Sisters never had an opportunity to compete. In 1984, Israel again refrained from participating due to the same date conflict.

Israel's entries have had a mixed reception. Avi Toledano (1982) and Ofra Haza (1983) scored well with big revivalist numbers, but the all-singing, all-dancing style became less popular later in the decade and Israel's 1986 entry, "Yavo Yom" by Moti Giladi and Sarai Tzuriel, came in 19th.

In 1987, Israel finished 8th with "Shir Habatlanim" by the satiric duo Lazy Bums. Then-Israeli Minister of Culture, Yitzhak Navon, said he would resign if the song went on to represent Israel at the contest; this ultimately did not occur.

In 1990, Rita's "Shara Barkhovot" was not well received, but in 1991, Orna and Moshe Datz finished third, Israel's best result since 1983. Israel also had a 5th-place finish by Eden when it hosted the 1999 contest. Ping-Pong's disco effort in 2000 failed, though the group was noted for their optimistic lyrics and message of reconciliation and peace. They waved Syrian flags at the end of their performance, angering some Israelis.

In 2004, David D'Or came 11th in the semi-final with "Leha'amin", leaving Israel out of the final for the first time since 1997. Shiri Maimon with "HaSheket SheNish'ar" in 2005 brought Israel back to the top five, and ensured Israel a place in the 2006 final, where it was represented by singer Eddie Butler, who had finished 5th as part of Eden in 1999; however, his performance of the song "Together We Are One" finished 23rd, with only four points.

IBA's Eurovision committee chose Teapacks to represent Israel in the 2007 contest. Their humorous entry "Push the Button" finished in 24th place out of a semi-final field of 28 and failed to reach the final. Israel thus had to compete in the semi-final in 2008, from which it passed on to the final, with Boaz and "The Fire in Your Eyes" finishing ninth there. In 2009, an Arab citizen of Israel represented the country for the first time, as Mira Awad performed "There Must Be Another Way" alongside Jewish-Israeli singer Noa in Moscow. Israel was represented in 2010 by Harel Skaat, who came 14th in the final with "Milim".

Israel's participations from 2011 to 2014 were less successful, as former Eurovision winner Dana International in Düsseldorf, the band Izabo in Baku, Moran Mazor in Malmö and Mei Finegold in Copenhagen, all failed to qualify for the final. In 2015, Nadav Guedj brought Israel back to the final with "Golden Boy", the first Israeli entry without a Hebrew lyric. Prior to their fourth win, it also managed to qualify in 2016 with Hovi Star and "Made of Stars" (which finished 14th) and in 2017 with Imri Ziv and "I Feel Alive" (which finished 23rd, Israel's lowest placing in a Eurovision final since 2006). In 2019, as host country with Kobi Marimi and his song "Home", Israel was pre-qualified for the final, however, it eventually finished in 23rd place, making it the fourth time since 2015 that the host country ranked in the bottom five.

In 2020, Eden Alene was selected to represent the country with "Feker Libi". Following the cancellation of the 2020 edition, she was retained as the Israeli representative for 2021, this time with "Set Me Free", which went on to finish in 17th place in the final. The song notably includes a B6 whistle note, the highest note in the history of the contest. Michael Ben David represented Israel in 2022 with "I.M", but failed to qualify for the final, marking the first time that Israel missed out on a final since 2014.^[4] Noa Kirel with "Unicorn" finished in third place in 2023, the country's best result since its 2018 win. In 2024, Eden Golan finished in fifth place with "Hurricane", which scored more points overall than "Unicorn".

Year	Location	Venue	Presenters	Photo
1979	Jerusalem	International Convention Center	Yardena Arazi and Daniel Pe'er
1999			Dafna Dekel, Sigal Shachmon and Yigal Ravid
2019	Tel Aviv	Expo Tel Aviv	Erez Tal, Bar Refaeli, Assi Azar and Lucy Ayoub

Year	Category	Song	Composer(s) lyrics (l) / Music (m)	Performer	Final	Points	Host city	Ref.
2010	Press Award	"Milim" (מילים)	Tomer Hadadi (m) and Noam Horev (l)	Harel Skaat	14	71	Oslo	[7]
	Artistic Award[d]							[7]
	Composer Award							[7]

Year	Song	Performer	Final result	Points	Host city	Ref.
2018	"Toy"	Netta	1	529	Lisbon	[8]

Until 2018, Israel only had a television commentator once, in 1979. In most cases, the IBA opted instead to simply broadcast the transmission without commentary and with Hebrew subtitles. Beginning in 2013 and lasting until 2017, it also aired the contest with Arabic subtitles on Channel 33. In both 1984 and 1997, which Israel also had to miss due to the holiday, the IBA aired the show on delay, and there was no radio broadcast. It also typically provided radio commentary beginning in the early 1980s, unless the country was not participating that year (with the exception of 2000). The IBA did not provide commentary until 2013, when it resumed radio broadcasting. In 2018, the IBA's successor, Kan, employed television commentators for the contest, which was a first for the country since 1979. The Israeli transmission was also shown internationally via the Israeli Network between 2003 and 2004.^[21]

• 
  Chocolate, Menta, Mastik in The Hague (1976)
• 
  David D'Or in Istanbul (2004)
• 
  Teapacks in Helsinki (2007)
• 
  Boaz in Belgrade (2008)
• 
  Harel Skaat in Oslo (2010)
• 
  Dana International in Düsseldorf (2011)
• 
  Moran Mazor in Malmö (2013)
• 
  Mei Finegold in Copenhagen (2014)
• 
  Nadav Guedj in Vienna (2015)
• 
  Hovi Star in Stockholm (2016)
• 
  Imri in Kyiv (2017)
• 
  Netta in Lisbon (2018)
• 
  Kobi Marimi in Tel Aviv (2019)
• 
  Eden Alene in Rotterdam (2021)
• 
  Michael Ben David in Turin (2022)
• 
  Noa Kirel in Liverpool (2023)
• 
  Eden Golan in Malmö (2024)

This section is an excerpt from Eurovision Song Contest § Political controversies.[edit]

Israel's participation in the contest has resulted in several controversial moments in the past, with the country's first appearance in 1973, less than a year after the Munich massacre, resulting in an increased security presence at the venue in Luxembourg City.^[53][54][55] Israel's first win in 1978 proved controversial for Arab states broadcasting the contest which would typically cut to advertisements when Israel performed due to a lack of recognition of the country, and when it became apparent Israel would win, many of these broadcasters cut the feed before the end of the voting.^[56][57][58] Arab states which are eligible to compete have declined to participate due to Israel's presence, with Morocco the only Arab state to have entered Eurovision, competing for the first, and as of 2024^[update] the only time, in 1980 when Israel was absent.^[59][60] Israeli participation has been criticised by those who oppose current government policies in the state, with calls raised by various political groups for a boycott ahead of the 2019 contest in Tel Aviv, including proponents of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement in response to the country's policies towards Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, as well as groups who take issue with perceived pinkwashing in Israel.^[61][62] Others campaigned against a boycott, asserting that any cultural boycott would be antithetical to advancing peace in the region.^[63][64] Israel's participation in the contest was again put into question following the outbreak of the Israel–Hamas war in October 2023, with renewed calls for the nation's exclusion ahead of the 2024 event.^[65] Israel's entry for that year's contest was, however, accepted by the EBU,^[66][67] although it was required to undergo rewrites as the EBU objected to the political nature of the original lyrics, which made reference to the 7 October Hamas-led attack on Israel.^[68][69][70]

In 1978, during the performance of the Israeli entry, the Jordanian broadcaster JRTV suspended the broadcast, and instead showed pictures of flowers. When it became apparent during the later stages of the voting sequence that Israel was going to win the contest, JRTV abruptly ended the transmission.^[71] Afterwards, Jordanian news media refused to acknowledge Israel's victory, and announced that the winner was Belgium (which had actually come in second).^[72] By coincidence, Israel did not broadcast the victory as well, as the IBA was unable to buy enough broadcasting time; the victory was broadcast the following day. At the time, Israeli television was in its infancy and broadcasting in black-and-white. Most Israelis therefore watched international events in colour, with the signal relayed via Jordan. As Jordan did not broadcast the Israeli entry and the IBA did not broadcast the results portion of the event, the win only became known via radio broadcasts.^{[citation needed]}

Because of Israel's participation in the contest, many Arab states that are eligible to participate do not do so.^[73][74] Tunisia intended to participate in 1977, but opted not to do so in the end; Lebanon also intended to participate in 2005 but later withdrew (incurring a fine by the EBU) because Lebanese law does not allow the promotion of Israeli content, and consequently Lebanese television was not allowed to transmit the Israeli entry – which would have been a violation of the contest's rules.^[75]

• Music of Israel
• Political controversies in the Eurovision Song Contest

• O'Connor, John Kennedy (2010). The Eurovision Song Contest: The Official History (2nd ed.). London: Carlton Books. ISBN 978-1-84732-521-1.
• West, Chris (2020). Eurovision! A History of Modern Europe Through the World's Greatest Song Contest (2nd ed.). London: Melville House UK. ISBN 978-1-911545-55-2.