Israel takes second at Eurovision again as Noam Bettan shines amid political controversy

Israeli singer Noam Bettan finished in second place at the Eurovision Song Contest in Austria on Saturday with his song “Michelle,” marking Israel’s second consecutive runner-up finish in the competition amid ongoing political controversy surrounding the Jewish state’s participation.

Bulgaria won the competition for the first time with singer Dara and the dance number “Bangaranga,” securing 516 points. Israel received 343 points, finishing ahead of Romania, Australia, Italy, Finland and Denmark. The contest marked Eurovision’s 70th anniversary.

“Thank you Europe, toda raba,” Bettan told the audience after his performance. “I love you all — Am Yisrael Chai,” he added, Hebrew for “the people of Israel live.”

Israel placed third in the public vote with 220 points and also performed strongly with juries, receiving 123 jury points overall. Bettan received the maximum 12 points from Poland’s jury, along with 10 points each from Ukraine and Moldova. Israel also received eight points from the juries in Albania, Austria and Lithuania.

In a video message released after his performance, Bettan said he was “much more excited than the previous times. I felt good, I felt 100 times better than past performances… I had fun, we’re finally on the other side of it, after months of work, that all led us to this point.”

In last year’s Eurovision contest, Israeli singer Yuval Raphael also finished second after securing the competition’s largest public vote. However, Israel received very few jury points last year, in contrast to Bettan’s stronger jury performance this year.

The Israeli jury awarded 12 points to Australia, 10 points to Denmark and seven points to Finland.

After finishing second, Bettan told Israeli broadcaster Kan that “we could not have asked for a better result… I tried to stay focused. I sang with joy, with a smile on my face.” The singer added that he hoped his second-place finish had given the Jewish state “a moment of hope.”

Israel has participated in Eurovision since 1973 and has won the competition four times – in 1978, 1979, 1998 and 2015. However, boycott calls against Israel have intensified since the Hamas Oct. 7 massacre of 1,200 Israelis in 2023.

Several anti-Israel demonstrations were held in Vienna during Eurovision week, with protesters calling for Israel’s exclusion from the competition. Eurovision director Martin Green acknowledged the tensions surrounding the contest, admitting at a press conference on Saturday afternoon that “we’re going through some challenging times at the moment.”

Spain, Ireland, Iceland, the Netherlands and Slovenia boycotted this year’s competition due to Israel’s participation.

However, the anti-Israel protests in Austria were significantly smaller than organizers had anticipated. Protest organizers had expected at least 3,000 demonstrators in Vienna, but only a few hundred ultimately attended Saturday’s rally. Earlier in the week, only a few dozen protesters attended a separate anti-Israel demonstration on Tuesday.

During Tuesday’s semifinal, at least one anti-Israel activist was heard chanting “Stop the genocide” as Bettan entered the stage. Security personnel removed at least four protesters from the arena.

Bettan revealed in an interview with The Times of Israel that he had prepared for the contest by practicing while listening to booing in the background.

Bettan specifically thanked Israel and Jewish communities worldwide for helping him qualify for the final.

“Thank you to all the people of Israel. Thank you to all the Jews around the world,” he said. “Thank you for voting for me. I love you. Wow, I had an amazing performance. I enjoyed every moment. See you in the final.”