Israel at the Eurovision: From Loud Boo’s to 2nd Place

Something incredible happened yesterday that makes me feel like we in Israel just got the hugest hug from the world. And I personally find this hug so deeply comforting since it came right before tonight’s searingly painful Israeli Memorial Day, with so many new victims of terror and fallen soldiers to mourn for since October 7th.

In this video you can get a taste of this hug, see how the European crowd loudly cheers Israeli representative Eden Golan, far more cheering than was received by any other country.

There was a lot of publicity given to the Israel-hatred expressed at the Eurovision Song Contest, one of the most-watched non-sporting events in the world with around 162 million viewers.

Things got off to a rocky start. During Eden Golan’s live dress rehearsal she got loudly booed by the crowd. All week, thousands of anti-Israel demonstrators protested her participation outside the Eurovision hall. Last year’s winner, Loreen of Sweden, said she would refuse to hand over the trophy to Eden Golan in the event that Israel should win. And Ireland’s representative claimed that she cried when she heard that Israel had made the finals.

So I was surprised to hear just how well Israel actually did in the public voting (which constitutes 50% of each candidate’s points) among Europeans as well as citizens of other countries around the world. Here’s from the Jerusalem Post:

“Despite the loud and proud pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel camp, one may be surprised to see just how well Israel did across the board when it came to the public televoting.

“Israel received a total of 323 points from televoters. Here’s how the points were distributed:

“Israel received 12 points (the maximum) from the televoters in the following countries/groups: Rest of the World, Australia, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, San Marino, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

“Several of these countries have large Jewish populations but while there is a slight tendency for countries with larger Jewish populations to give more points to Israel, the relationship is not strong enough to suggest a direct or significant influence.

“Israel also received 10 points from televoters in Albania, Austria, Cyprus, Czechia, Ireland, Moldova, and Slovenia. Perhaps the surprise package here is the public vote from the Irish, who are generally regarded as not Israel’s greatest friend.

“Some of the smaller nations, such as San Marino and Iceland, with negligible Jewish populations, still gave Israel relatively high scores, further illustrating that Eurovision voting is influenced by factors beyond just demographic similarities.

“The breakdown of the remaining televoters is as follows:

“Israel received 8 points from televoters in Denmark, Georgia, and Iceland.

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“Israel received 7 points from televoters in Azerbaijan, Greece, and Latvia.

“Israel received 6 points from televoters in Estonia.

“Israel received 5 points from televoters in Malta, Norway, and Poland.

Israel’s diverse range of points from different countries, some of whom have almost no Jewish presence, signifies that despite the ongoing public noise in the pro-Palestinian arena, despite the constant attacks against the Jewish State, there is a silent majority…

“Maybe there is hope after all.”

In the end, Israel came in 5th place. But based on the public voting alone Israel came in 2nd place, right after Ukraine.

Which means (I believe) that the silent majority of Europeans actually like Israel and see our point of view and understand, like in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, who is the true victim and who is the true perpetrator in the current war.

Thank you, Europe, for standing by our side. I needed a hug right now, thank you for (so unexpectedly) providing it!