Israel takes the Eurovision Song Contest very seriously. This year, when Supernova massacre survivor Yuval Raphael represented the country in Basel, was no exception. Her song, “New Day Will Rise,” was the runner-up in the grand final Saturday night. In a very tight finish, ultimately Raphael was beaten by Austria’s JJ, a young opera singer.
It might not be the dawn of a new era, but it granted the pleasure of the light and warmth of the early morning sun.
Eurovision, watched by millions worldwide, does not give much hope for a better cultural future. In the words of the entry by UK girl trio Remember Monday, I kept asking myself: “What the hell just happened?”
Among the acts I’d like to forget were Finland’s Erika Vikman seemingly making love to an oversized microphone while singing “Ich Komme”; and Malta’s Miriana Conte, who put her large lips and hips to use while belting out a song called “Kant.” Neither fared well. Perhaps Eurovision’s provocative epoch is drawing to an end.
I watched the finals at the home of my friends Micki and Gaby Pell. I would not have been able to sit through the experience on my own. We were quite a crowd with mixed tastes. Some, like me, missed the Eurovision ballads of the Sixties, while others preferred the glitz and the quirky. We were united in our support for Raphael.
'A New Day Will Rise' for Israel
The BBC broadcast we were watching from Jerusalem, and the Swiss hosts, could barely disguise their distaste at Israel’s participation. And they were not the only ones. Media hype followed the “controversy” of Israel’s public broadcast company KAN being able to take part in the festival in light of the war in Gaza.
Raphael’s personal story includes surviving Hamas’s barbaric attack at the Supernova music festival on October 7, 2023, by lying for hours under the bodies of friends in a shelter that was repeatedly attacked by the invading Gazan terrorists. She wasn’t allowed to mention it, however. It was deemed too political.
This year’s song and last year’s, performed by Eden Golan, were written by Keren Peles. She was forced to change the title and lyrics of the 2024 song from “October Rain” to “Hurricane.” Supporting the Gazan victims of the war is almost de rigueur in certain circles, but mentioning the Hamas October 7 mega-atrocity, in which 1,200 were murdered, 251 abducted, and thousands wounded, is not considered acceptable.
Similarly, wearing yellow ribbons representing the hostages was also banned. There are still 58 people being held captive in Gaza, of whom 20 are believed to be alive, 35 are thought to be dead, and the status of three is unconfirmed. A yellow pin that reminds the world of their fate can only be considered political if you want to hide the cause of the war and ignore the ongoing barbarity of the Hamas regime.
Interestingly, The Wall Street Journal this week published documents showing that the Hamas invasion and massacre were aimed at derailing the Israeli-Saudi Arabian diplomatic process.
Another story that made local headlines this week was the retrieval from Syria of the private diaries and belongings of executed super-spy Eli Cohen, whose feats contributed to Israel’s victory in the 1967 Six Day War. His burial place is still unknown, but Israel continues efforts to find his body and bring it back home, to grant his family a measure of comfort and closure.
When Cohen was hanged in a Damascus square in May 1965, a Syrian news broadcaster described him as being from “Tel Aviv, occupied Palestine.”
It’s worth noting that this was two years before the Six Day War. “The occupation” didn’t start with “the settlements,” built after the Arab defeat in 1967. As far as Israel’s enemies are concerned, the entire Jewish state – from the river to the sea – is occupied territory. It’s Israel’s very existence they oppose.
Throughout the week surrounding Eurovision, media attention in Basel focused on the anti-Israel protests. Israelis were warned not to display Hebrew or Jewish symbols.
The pro-Palestinian demonstrators were all about making noise rather than making music.
During Raphael’s performance, two protesters tried to storm the stage and throw red paint at the Supernova survivor. The two, members of the group with the privileged name “Youth Demand,” were caught before they could disrupt the show.
Twenty-four-year-old Raphael seemed to draw strength from overcoming adversity. When she shouted “Am Yisrael chai!” – “the People of Israel live” – she might as well have proclaimed in Hebrew: “The show must go on.”
The Spanish broadcaster, having failed in the bid to bar Israel, displayed an announcement citing false Gazan casualty figures and preaching: “In the face of human rights, silence is not an option. Peace and justice for Palestine.”
Imagine if Israel or any other country at the contest had openly called for Catalonian independence.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Monday called for Israel’s exclusion from international cultural events, including the Eurovision Song Contest.
The singers from Iceland were among those who called for Israel to be barred, but they were somewhat of a BDS fail. Their song was so similar to the Israeli hit “Hatunat Hashana” (“the wedding of the year”), that our Eurovision party sang the Hebrew lyrics “Our brother is getting married” in time with the Icelandic offering. Karma being a bitch, they didn’t do well.
Altogether, the contest left a lot of sore losers and many baffled experts. Raphael’s second-place achievement was the result of the votes of the general public – those who could vote anonymously. While the national juries gave Raphael a low 60 points, with only Azerbaijan granting her the maximum 12 points, the public sang a different tune. They allocated Raphael a whopping 297 points.
The Israeli song won the maximum 12 points from the voting public in the UK, Spain, Sweden, Australia, and Portugal, whose juries gave her no votes at all. Despite Irish efforts to prevent Israel from competing, the Irish jury gave her seven points, and the public there granted her 10 points. All together, the public in 12 countries, and the voting entity defined as “Rest of the world,” awarded Israel the maximum points.
Austria’s JJ, by comparison, received 258 votes from the juries but just 178 from the public. Had the public vote been the only one, Israel would have been the winner by a wide margin. Musically, at least, all is not lost when it comes to Israel’s international relations.
My friend Gaby, summing up, said: “I felt conflicted by the bias on both sides of the voting. The jury vote was disheartening, but the public’s support – even if from a silent minority – was a powerful reminder that maybe we’re not as alone as we often think.”
Those looking for a political message could point to the Azerbaijani jury as voicing a sympathy vote. The moderate Muslim country has long had good ties with Israel and fears jihadist extremists, particularly from neighboring Iran.
Conspiracy theorists immediately blamed the Jewish cabal for somehow manipulating the public voting. Some pundits pointed to the fact that you can’t vote against a country, thus splitting the votes of Israel’s opponents. Many found it hard to openly admit that it was an honest victory for a good song, well staged, and performed by a charismatic young singer – a true survivor with a way of winning hearts.
Strategic adviser Moshe Klughaft, who attended Eurovision, wrote in Israel Hayom: “It’s not just music, nor is it just politics – it’s bigger than that. A process of changing global elites is unfolding before our eyes; Eurovision is just a symptom. And the competition’s judges – representatives of the bloated establishment that dictates to the masses what to think and is humiliated over and over – just got caught up in the situation.”
When the UK, French, and Canadian governments this week stepped up the rhetoric and moved against Israel’s actions in Gaza, it’s questionable to what extent they faithfully represent their own publics. Do the citizens of the West really want to sanction Israel, while allowing jihadist Hamas to get away with murder and mass abductions? Or are they being manipulated by biased press and broadcasts?
As the Eurovision voting was taking place, Houthi terrorists in Yemen sent a message as far as possible from peace and harmony. At around 2 a.m., rocket alert sirens were heard throughout much of central Israel. But they couldn’t drown out the sounds of celebration as Israel was announced as the Eurovision runner-up.
Yuval Raphael did the country proud: Refusing to be silenced; standing up proudly to sing a message of hope.