Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest
Israel has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 45 times since making its debut in . Israel was able to enter the contest as the Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA) was an active member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which was responsible for the event. The IBA was succeeded as the broadcaster in charge of the Israeli entry by the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC/Kan) in 2018. Israel has won the contest four times, and has hosted the contest in Jerusalem twice in  and . Israel hosted the contest for the third time in Tel Aviv in .

Israel's first appearance at the contest in 1973 was successful, with Ilanit finishing fourth. Israel then achieved victories in 1978 and 1979, with wins for Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta with the song "A-Ba-Ni-Bi", and Milk and Honey with "Hallelujah". In , the IBA declined to host the contest for the 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 time that the winning country did not compete the following year. The country's best results in the 1980s were second-place finishes for Avi Toledano in  and Ofra Haza in . Former winner Izhar Cohen returned to place fifth in , before Duo Datz finished third in . Israel achieved its third victory in , with Dana International and "Diva". Eden then finished fifth in .  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 ,  and , 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 , 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 for the first time in five years, with Nadav Guedj finishing ninth in , and the country had participated in the final every year since, including a fourth victory courtesy of Netta with "Toy" in . Following a non-qualification in , Israel returned to the final in , with Noa Kirel finishing in third place.

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

Israel's earliest selections were picked by the Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA). The first singer to represent the country was Ilanit, who finished 4th in . 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  in . 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. 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 () and Ofra Haza () scored well with big revivalist numbers, but the all-singing, all-dancing style became less popular later in the decade and Israel's  entry, "Yavo Yom" by Moti Giladi and Sarai Tzuriel, came in 19th.

In , 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 , Rita's "" was not well received, but in , 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 . Ping-Pong's disco effort in  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 , David D'Or came 11th in the semi-final with  "", leaving Israel out of the final for the first time since 1997. Shiri Maimon with "" in  brought Israel back to the top five, and ensured Israel a place in the  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  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 , from which it passed on to the final, with Boaz and "The Fire in Your Eyes" finishing ninth there. In , 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. Noa Kirel with "Unicorn" finished in third place in 2023, the country's best result since its 2018 win.

Participation overview

Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest

Hosting

Marcel Bezençon Awards

Winner by OGAE members

Conductors

Heads of delegation

Commentators and spokespersons
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. 1980 was the only year that was not broadcast either on television or radio due to Yom HaZikaron; 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, and in 2018, when its 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.

Costume designers

Photo gallery

Arab reaction  
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. Afterwards, the Jordanian news media refused to acknowledge the fact that Israel had won, and announced that the winner was Belgium (which had actually come in second). 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 neighbouring 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.

Because of Israel's participation in the contest, many Arab states that are eligible to participate do not do so. , , and  are cases in point. Tunisia intended to participate in 1977, but decided not to do so in the end; Lebanon also intended to participate in  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 EBU's rules.

See also
Music of Israel
Political controversies in the Eurovision Song Contest

Notes

References

 
Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest