Israel advances to Eurovision final amid protests and chants

Israel Advances to Eurovision 2026 Final Amid Boycotts and Protests

Israel’s Noam Bettan qualified for the Eurovision Song Contest grand final on Tuesday night in Vienna, performing his song “Michelle” over audible chants of “stop the genocide” from audience members inside the Wiener Stadthalle. Two people who disrupted the broadcast were physically removed from the arena by security, according to Austrian newspaper Österreich.the-independent

Bettan performed the song in French, Hebrew and English, beginning inside a diamond-shaped stage prop before emerging with dancers. Austrian public broadcaster ORF had said it would not use anti-booing technology during the show. “I heard the boos, but quickly afterward, I heard calls from people on our side who were making noise and lifting me up,” Bettan said in a video message after his performance.timesofisrael

The Smallest Eurovision in Two Decades

The 70th edition of the contest is unfolding under extraordinary circumstances. Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Iceland withdrew after failing to persuade the European Broadcasting Union to exclude Israel over the war in Gaza, leaving just 35 nations competing — the largest boycott in Eurovision history.abc

Along with Israel, nine other countries advanced from Tuesday’s first semi-final: Greece, Finland, Belgium, Sweden, Moldova, Croatia, Serbia, Lithuania and Poland. Portugal, Georgia, Montenegro, Estonia and San Marino were eliminated. A second semi-final is scheduled for Thursday, with the grand final set for Saturday.timesofisrael

Voting Reforms and Spending Scrutiny

The contest has also been dogged by questions about voting integrity. A New York Times investigation published on Sunday found that Israel ran a state-backed campaign spending more than $800,000 on advertising around the 2024 Eurovision in Malmö, Sweden, with funding linked to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s public diplomacy office. The report found Israeli officials and embassies coordinated multilingual campaigns encouraging viewers to vote up to 20 times for Israel’s contestant.newarab

In response to such concerns, the EBU this year reinstated professional jury votes in the semi-final rounds, capped individual votes at 10 instead of 20, and pledged to crack down on “disproportionate promotion campaigns,” especially those funded by governments. The EBU sent a direct warning to Israel’s Kan broadcaster last week over an ad campaign featuring Bettan that called on viewers to vote for him 10 times, saying it was “not in line with our rules nor the spirit of the competition”.timesofisrael

Outside the arena on Tuesday, a small protest organized by Palestine Solidarity Austria saw demonstrators chanting “No stage for genocide” while displaying small coffins with photos of children to represent casualties of Israeli airstrikes in Gaza. Larger protests are expected Friday and Saturday as the contest continues.timesofisrael