Israel was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 15 May 2025. Performing during the show in position 14, Israel was announced among the top 10 entries of the second semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 17 May. It was later revealed that Israel placed first out of the 16 participating countries in the semi-final with 203 points. In the final, Israel performed in position 4 and placed second out of the 26 participating countries, scoring 357 points.
As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, Kan selects an entry to represent Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. Kan confirmed its intention to participate in the 2025 contest on 31 May 2024,[2] announcing on 23 July that its representative would continue to be selected through the reality singing competition HaKokhav HaBa (Rising Star).[3]
Preliminary casting rounds began in late July 2024 and ended in early October. Qualifiers from the preliminary casting phase proceeded to the auditions proper, which began filming on 10 October.[4][7]
Auditions
Candidates were required to get a score of at least 70% of the votes from the judges and the studio audience in order to advance.
From the 66 advanced candidates, the judges picked 21 to proceed in a non-televised shortlisting round. Those candidates were: Kler, Yuval Raphael, Ori Saban, Ido Malka, Natalie Zafar, Renana Boaziza, Daniel Wais, Yuval Gold, Udi Schneider, Amit Sade, Alma Maimon de Razon, Dolev Mendelbaum, Valerie Hamaty, Hamsa, Nati Livian, Itay Paz, Perfylove Mongoza, Aviad Klein, Ilay Avidani, Shira Knopp, and Red Band and Moran Aharoni.[23]
Top 21 round
In the top 21 round, the votes of the judges and an audience determine one or two contestants to be eliminated from each show. In each of the first three shows, the artist to be eliminated was the one getting the lowest overall score. In the fourth and fifth shows, the artists were coupled to perform duets, with the eliminee selected between the lowest scoring duo in the fifth show. In the sixth, seventh, fifteenth and sixteenth shows, the artists were paired in duels, with the winners directly qualifying to the next round; the judges then selected one or two eliminee per show among the others. In the eighth, ninth and tenth shows, each contestant performed a duet with a surprise guest artist. The lowest scoring contestant across both the eleventh and twelfth shows combined was eliminated. In the thirteenth and fourteenth shows, the judges decided which of the bottom two scoring contestants to be eliminated.
In the quarterfinal, which featured Rita as a guest act and had the contestants performing her songs, the artists were paired in duels with the winners directly qualifying to the next round; the judges then determined which contestant to eliminate from the losers of each duel.
In the semi-final, the votes of the judges and the audience determined a qualifier to the final. Afterwards, the scores were reset and an additional round took place, in which the judges individually awarded 12, 10, 8, and 7 points for the remaining four acts. The three acts that received the highest accumulated score from the judges and the studio audience proceeded to the final.
The final was held on 22 January 2025[40] and was divided into a first round, eliminating one finalist, and a superfinal among the remaining three artists, determining the winner. On 21 January, a special broadcast was aired featuring performances by guest artists and the finalists, each of whom announced which song they would perform in the first round of the final. A public vote, held via the Mako and Kan apps and determining 30% of the results of the first round, was opened after the performances in the first round of the final.[41] In the superfinal, a 50/50 combination of jury and public votes selected Yuval Raphael as the winner.[42]
The song that Yuval Raphael performed in the contest was internally selected by a professional committee, which consisted of Barak Itzkovitz[he] (director of Kan's music stations), Tal Argaman and Maya Druckman (DJs and music editors at Kan 88), Sharon Drix (Kan's culture and entertainment director); Tali Katz (Kan's culture and entertainment editor-in-chief), Tamira Yardeni[he] (owner of Tedy Productions), and Yoav Tzafir[he] (editor-in-chief of HaKokhav HaBa and Israeli head of delegation at Eurovision).[43] On 30 December 2024, Kan and Keshet opened a window for specially selected songwriters to submit their entries until 2 February 2025; submissions were required to include at least two lines of lyric in Hebrew.[44][45] Raphael also had the option to submit her own entry.[46] 54 submissions were received at the closing of the deadline.[47][48] The selected song, titled "New Day Will Rise" and written by Keren Peles, was presented on 9 March during a special broadcast on Kan 11, aired from the Yitzhak Rabin Center in Tel Aviv and hosted by Hila Korach.[49][50]
Due to the continuing Gaza war, calls were made for the exclusion of Israel, albeit at a smaller scale compared to those that occurred in the run-up to and during the 2024 contest.[51] Nonetheless, demonstrations against Israel's conduct in the war and its participation in the contest took place.[52][53] The Slovenian broadcaster RTVSLO submitted a demand for the EBU to exclude Israel in December 2024. RTVSLO had also considered withdrawing from the contest and censorship of Israel's performance if Israel were not excluded.[54][55][56] The Finnish broadcaster Yle received a petition signed by over 500 Finnish artists in March 2025, demanding that the broadcaster boycotts the contest if Israel were allowed to compete; among the signatories were Eija Ahvo[fi], Eero Ritala, and Sara Melleri.[57][58][59] Later that month, José Pablo López, chairman of the Spanish broadcaster RTVE, stated he would put the issue of Israel's participation to a vote in the broadcaster's board of directors in March.[60][61] RTVE ultimately decided on 11 April that it would request a debate within the EBU regarding Kan's participation, citing "concerns raised by various civil society groups in Spain regarding the situation in Gaza".[62][63] That same day, the EBU responded to RTVE's letter, acknowledging "concerns and deeply held views around the current conflict in the Middle East" but reiterating that all EBU members are eligible to compete.[64] By the end of April, Flemish Belgian broadcaster VRT likewise joined in calling for a debate on Israel's participation.[65][66]
A week prior to the start of the contest, a group named "Artists for Palestine UK" released a petition, signed by 72 artists who were involved in previous editions, calling for Israel's exclusion; signatories included Salvador Sobral, winner of the 2017 contest, and Charlie McGettigan, co-winner of the 1994 contest.[67][68] Around the same time, the National Union of Journalists called on Irish broadcaster RTÉ to demand for Israel's exclusion; RTÉ's director-general Kevin Bakhurst responded by stating that the broadcaster would also request a debate on Israel's participation within the EBU,[69] a request that was acknowledged by the EBU after a meeting with Bakhurst, who stated, "There is a commitment from the EBU to have a wider discussion amongst members in due course".[70] Responding to an op-ed by 18 Norwegian artists calling for Israel's exclusion, broadcaster NRK stated that it would not seek a boycott.[71] In Iceland, 30 former Eurovision entrants signed a petition calling for Israel's exclusion; foreign minister Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir said that it was "in the hands of the EBU".[72]
The "Turquoise Carpet" event, held on 11 May 2025 in the host city Basel, was targeted by pro-Palestinian demonstrators aiming to protest Israel's participation.[73] One protester "drew a finger across his throat as if he were threatening to slit Raphael's", which Israeli media outlets interpreted as a death threat.[74] Kan later filed a complaint with the Basel police.[75]
At Eurovision
The Eurovision Song Contest 2025 took place at St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland, and consisted of two semi-finals held on the respective dates of 13 and 15 May and the final on 17 May 2025. All nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) were required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete in the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progresses to the final. On 28 January 2025, an allocation draw was held to determine which of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show, each country would perform in; the EBU split up the competing countries into different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. Israel was scheduled for the second half of the second semi-final.[76] The shows' producers then decided the running order for the semi-finals; Israel was set to perform in position 14.[77]
Performance
Yuval Raphael took part in technical rehearsals on 6 and 9 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 14 and 15 May.[78] The staging of her performance of "New Day Will Rise" was directed by Shai Bondar, Yuval Cohen, and Yoav Tzafir.[79] The set was a 5.5m (18ft)chandelier, with stairs which Raphael climbed during the performance; it is described as a nod to a 1901 photo of Theodor Herzl overlooking the Rhine River from a hotel balcony in Basel.[80]
Semi-final
Israel performed in position 14, following the entry from Luxembourg and before the entry from Serbia. At the end of the show, the country was announced as a qualifier for the final by winning the semi with 203 points.
Final
Following the semi-final, Israel drew "producer's choice" for the final, meaning that the country would perform in the half decided by the contest's producers. Israel was set to perform in position 4, following the entry from Estonia and before the entry from Lithuania.[81] Raphael once again took part in dress rehearsals on 16 and 17 May before the final, including the jury final where the professional juries cast their final votes before the live show on 17 May. She performed a repeat of her semi-final performance during the final on 17 May. Israel placed second in the final, scoring 357 points: 297 points from the public televoting and 60 points from the juries. Israel placed first in the public vote.
Each participating broadcaster assembles a five-member jury panel consisting of music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent. Each jury, and individual jury member, is required to meet a strict set of criteria regarding professional background, as well as diversity in gender and age. No member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently.[83] The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final.
The following members comprised the Israeli jury:[84]
Asher Asi Tal
Saar Gamzo
Yonatan Roe'h
Avia Farchi
Noga Klein
Detailed voting results from Israel (Semi-final 2)
Following the contest, RTVE and VRT announced that they would request an audit on the televoting results in their countries, both of which gave their 12 points to Israel, with the former stating that other countries "would be joining them"; VRT additionally called for "full transparency" on the EBU's part, and that it would reconsider its participation in future editions, noting that the contest is "increasingly at odds with the original standards and values of the event, as well as those of public broadcasting."[85] RÚV and Walloon Belgian broadcaster RTBF issued statements in support of the decision.[86] Finnish broadcaster Yle stated it would ask the EBU to rework the televoting system "to avoid its abuse", but it would not emphasise Israel's role in the results;[87] Norwegian broadcaster NRK later came out in support of a review of the voting system.[88] Dutch broadcasters AVROTROS and NPO also joined calls for a wider discussion among EBU members regarding Israel's participation.[89] RTÉ later joined RTVE and VRT in requesting an audit on the televoting results, with the Irish televote having awarded 10 points to Israel.[90]
On 19 May 2025, Eurovision News Spotlight, a fact-checking and open-source intelligence initiative by the EBU, published an investigation which found evidence that the Israel Government Advertising Agency conducted a cross-platform advertising campaign on Google platforms and utilised official state social media accounts to encourage public support for Israel's entry in the contest, and provided instructions on how voters could cast all 20 of their allowed votes for Israel. As part of the investigation, Eurovision News Spotlight analysed a YouTube account created on 20 April, under the username @Vote4NewDayWillRise. Between 6 and 16 May, the account published 89 videos, which collectively garnered over 8.3 million views. The analysis, conducted using open-source tools, found no evidence that artificial intelligence was used for the advertisements, suggesting that Raphael was personally involved in the creation of the promotional videos.[91][92] The Israeli government had previously admitted to attempting to boost the public vote for the Israeli entry through a promotional campaign during the 2024 contest.[93][94]
Israel's participation and result was also a topic of discussion in European political fields. The Spanish newspaper El País pointed to mobilisation campaigns by the Israeli government and several European far-right affiliated media outlets as a factor in Israel's high televoting score.[95] Some Belgian MPs also mentioned an influence campaign by Israeli authorities and questioned the country's participation,[96] while MPs from the Spanish left-wing alliance Sumar registered a proposal to demand a reform in the contest and the removal of Israel from it.[97][98] Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez also called for Israel to be excluded following the contest, saying that "double standards" were being applied by excluding Russia following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, but not Israel due to its conduct in the Gaza war, which has been characterised as genocidal.[99] The European Commission's coordinator on "combating antisemitism", Katharina von Schnurbein, alleged that conspiracy theories had been spread accusing "Jews or the Mossad" for securing Israel second place in the event.[100]
↑ Zaikaner, Avi (31 May 2024). "ישראל מאשרת השתתפות באירוויזיון 2025"[Israel confirms participation in Eurovision 2025]. EuroMix (in Hebrew). Retrieved 11 November 2024.
↑ Jeressi, Ofek (8 January 2025). "נציג ישראל לאירוויזיון 2025 ייבחר ב-22 בינואר!"[Israel's representative for Eurovision 2025 will be chosen on January 22!]. EuroMix (in Hebrew). Retrieved 8 January 2025.
↑ Jeressi, Ofek (22 January 2025). "הערב ב-21:30: ישראל בוחרת נציג לאירוויזיון 2025!"[Tonight at 9:30 PM: Israel chooses a representative for Eurovision 2025!]. EuroMix (in Hebrew). Retrieved 22 January 2025.
↑ "תקנון בחירת שיר אירוויזיון 2025"[Regulations for the song selection for Eurovision 2025](PDF) (in Hebrew). Kan. 30 December 2024. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
↑ Haugen, Vibeke Furst (6 May 2025). "Krigen i Gaza setter EBU på prøve"[The war in Gaza puts the EBU to the test] (in Norwegian Bokmål). NRK. Retrieved 7 May 2025.
↑ Rettman, Andrew (10 July 2025). "EU antisemitism tsar lobbied against Israel sanctions". EUobserver. Retrieved 16 July 2025. [Katharina von Schnurbein] also mentioned what she referred to as "conspiracy theories" spread in social media about how "Jews or the Mossad succeeded in putting the Israeli singer in second place" at the recent Eurovision Song Context [sic].
Note: Entries scored out signify where Israel did not compete. Italics indicate an entry in a future contest.
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