{"id":94567,"date":"2026-05-02T18:14:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T18:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/94567\/"},"modified":"2026-05-02T18:14:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T18:14:09","slug":"israels-eurovision-delegation-arrives-in-vienna-in-high-spirits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/94567\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel\u2019s Eurovision delegation arrives in Vienna in high spirits"},"content":{"rendered":"

Israel\u2019s Eurovision delegation<\/a> arrived in Vienna on Friday to in advance of competing in the international song competition, exuding high spirits while coping with security threats.<\/p>\n

The 70th Eurovision Song Contest will begin with the first semifinal on May 12, in which Israel will participate; the final will be on May 16.<\/p>\n

Noam Bettan<\/a>, Israel\u2019s contestant, posted photos of himself and his five female back-up dancers singing and dancing their way through Ben-Gurion Airport on the morning of their flight.<\/p>\n

They shared a glass of champagne and a slice of a colorful cake at the airport, and he signed autographs for fans.<\/p>\n

In a videotaped message released by KAN, Bettan said, \u201cThanks to all the people of Israel, thank you for your love. Over the past few months, I have felt the most love I\u2019ve ever felt in my life. I feel like I\u2019m setting off with the biggest and strongest support\u2026 I am proud to be representing Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Israel\u2019sIsrael\u2019s Eurovision delegation arrives in Vienna in high spirits on April 30, 2026. (credit: Courtesy of KAN)<\/p>\n

He is set to perform \u201cMichelle\u201d in French, Hebrew, and English \u2013 a high-energy song about an elusive woman, which he wrote with Yuval Raphael, last year\u2019s Israeli Eurovision contestant, along with Tzlil Klifi and Nadav Aharoni.<\/p>\n

Bettan and his dancers will have their first rehearsal in Austria on Sunday. The crew will also have time to prep the special stage elements, such as the staircase Raphael ascended in her performance, as well as the chandelier.<\/p>\n

But behind the scenes, security is as important to the Israeli delegation as stagecraft, and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) continues to be in charge of protecting Israel\u2019s performers and crew.<\/p>\n

The security will not be any less thorough than last year\u2019s, Ynet reported, despite the fact that Austria is seen as a country friendly to the Jewish state<\/p>\n

Israel is expected to take part in all the Eurovision events, including the turquoise carpet. Last year, during the turquoise carpet parade in Switzerland, a man approached Raphael and mimed slitting her throat.<\/p>\n

But all the security in the world can\u2019t stop the harassment from anti-Israel factions, and booing from audiences at rehearsals and performances is expected again this year.<\/p>\n

Ynet reporter Ran Boker quoted Yoav Tzafir, the delegation\u2019s director, as saying, \u201cWe\u2019re talking with Noam. The truth is, he is a strong guy. He has mental strength; he is cool and he is coming to give everything on stage. He is as determined as can be, and he will know how to deal with it\u2026 We don\u2019t like the boos, and they are not fun for any of us. We don\u2019t control them, and we don\u2019t want them to happen.<\/p>\n

He continued, \u201cbut I am saying that if they are already happening, they give us drive and make us more goal-oriented. And separately, as a television editor, I think that when the audience at home sees an artist absorbing boos, the emotion goes toward him, and that can bring votes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year, Raphael won the audience voting, and Bettan is projected to do so this year. Israel is predicted at the betting tables to finish sixth overall.<\/p>\n

Five countries boycott Eurovision over Israeli participation<\/p>\n

Despite anti-Israel sentiments<\/a> expressed by artists who signed letters protesting its participation and the fact that the Israeli delegation missed some of the run-up activities because of flying restrictions due to the war with Iran, Bettan has received support<\/a> from fellow contestants, including the French and Belgian representatives, according to Ynet.<\/p>\n

Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and Spain are boycotting the competition because of Israel\u2019s presence, and Ireland, Slovenia, and Spain will not broadcast the event.<\/p>\n

The European Broadcasting Authority (EBU) refused to vote on Israel\u2019s participation at its general meeting last year, meaning that Israel can take part, but rules were changed that will make it more difficult for it to win.<\/p>\n

Israel generally does well in the audience voting, but receives much less support from national juries. Due to the rule change, the countries that will advance to the final will now be determined by national juries in addition to the audience vote.<\/p>\n

But, as Tzafir told Ynet: \u201cIn the past three years, I think the pro-Israel audience understands the meaning of this and mobilizes for the event, precisely because of all the hatred against us around it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Israel\u2019s Eurovision delegation arrived in Vienna on Friday to in advance of competing in the international song competition,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":94568,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[12477,26026,3741,37],"class_list":{"0":"post-94567","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-israel","8":"tag-austria","9":"tag-eurovision","10":"tag-eurovision-song-contest","11":"tag-israel"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94567\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}