Eurovision Faces Divisions Over Israel’s Participation
As the Eurovision Song Contest prepares to celebrate its 70th year, the event is facing a significant challenge. While the contest’s tagline is “United by Music,” the current situation highlights deep divisions, particularly regarding Israel’s participation.
The live final will take place in Vienna, Austria, on Saturday, but the controversy surrounding Israel’s inclusion is casting a shadow over the event. Several countries, including Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and Iceland, have decided to boycott the competition. Noam Bettan, who has made it to the final after the semi-final on Tuesday, is set to perform, sparking further debate.
Israel’s national broadcaster, KAN, has received a formal warning from organizers over videos posted online by Noam Bettan, where he encourages viewers to “vote 10 times for Israel.” This has raised concerns about potential vote-rigging, adding to the tension around the contest.
The boycotts have also had a financial impact on Eurovision, which relies heavily on funding from participating broadcasters. With many public broadcasters already under financial pressure due to government funding cuts and competition from social media, the situation is challenging.
Despite the controversy, fans are still rallying to support the contest. They argue that despite the political issues, they are ready to celebrate the event’s seven-decade legacy.
Dean Vuletic, author of the book Postwar Europe and the Eurovision Song Contest, told the BBC: “When it comes to merchandising, when it comes to ticket sales, the fans are really the ones fuelling this Eurovision industry. They’re the ones you can count on to attend the contest, even when it becomes mired in political controversy.”
This is not the first time Eurovision has faced controversy, but Vuletic added that “the fans keep coming, no matter what.”
However, some fans have decided to stop covering the contest, with much of the show’s online conversation now centered around forums, podcasts, and blogs. Ireland’s Eirevision podcast stated: “We no longer recognise the Eurovision Song Contest we grew up with. A contest founded on unity, peace, and connection has never felt more divided.”
Martin Green, the director of the Eurovision Song Contest, has defended the event, noting that tickets for the grand final sold out in a record 14 minutes. He said: “To see every single show sell out so quickly is a powerful reminder of what the Eurovision Song Contest represents – joy, togetherness and shared experience at a time when that feels more important than ever.”
Mixed Reactions to Israel’s Performance
Israel’s act, Noam Bettan, faced a mixed reception during the semi-final. While some audience members booed and shouted anti-Israeli slogans, others chanted his name in support. The negative reaction was audible on the TV broadcast, as the Austrian broadcaster ORF, which is hosting the show, confirmed that several audience members were removed by security.
Bettan faced a similar response during his performance, with pro-Palestine supporters booing him. ORF stated that the audience member had been “close to a microphone” and “loudly expressed their views” both as Israel prepared to take the stage and during their song. They were later removed by security for continuing to disturb the audience. Three other people were also removed from the arena for disruptive behavior.
Despite this, Israel is currently the fourth favorite to win, with Coral giving them odds of 11/1 — tied with Denmark. The hot favorites are Finland with odds of 5/6, followed by Australia with 7/2 and Greece with 13/2.
Political Tensions and Protests
Long a forum for good-natured and sometimes pointed national rivalries, Eurovision has found it hard to separate pop and politics in recent years. Russia was expelled in 2022 after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Tensions rose again after Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which killed some 1,200 people, and Israel’s subsequent campaign in Gaza that has left more than 70,000 people dead.
The last two Eurovision contests have seen pro-Palestinian protests both outside the venues and inside, forcing organizers to clamp down on political flag-waving. Several performers and countries have called for the exclusion of Israel, which has competed in Eurovision since 1973, one of a few non-European countries to do so.
The 2024 contest in Malmö, Sweden, and last year’s event in Basel, Switzerland, saw pro-Palestinian protests that called for Israel to be expelled over the conduct of its war against Hamas in Gaza and allegations it ran a rule-breaking marketing campaign to get votes for its contestant after Israel finished second last year.
When organizers declined to kick Israel out, five countries announced in December that they would not participate this year. The European Broadcasting Union, which runs Eurovision, has toughened voting rules in response to the vote-rigging allegations, halving the number of votes per person to 10 and tightening safeguards against “suspicious or coordinated voting activity.”
Israel last year got 83 per cent of its points from the public for its song New Day Will Rise and came second overall. The winner, Austria’s Wasted Love, got just 41 per cent of its votes from the public, and had to rely on the support of national juries to power its way to the top.
Posts and photos from the Israel X account run by Israel’s foreign ministry and dated on the day that Israel competed in last year’s semi-final had encouraged people to vote for its singer Yuval Raphael, adding that “you can vote up to 20 times.” Eurovision Song Contest Director Martin Green told Reuters: “We saw some activity last year which we could describe as disproportionate marketing and promotional activity that we felt was out of sync with the nature of the show, so we put some rules in about that.”
Several pro-Palestinian demonstrations are planned in Vienna during Eurovision week, and security is tight, with police officers from across Austria deployed in the capital and support from forces in neighboring Germany.
