United by music, divided by politics

The official, permanent slogan of the Eurovision Song Contest is “United by Music”. But sadly, the competition has proven over recent years, at least when it comes to Israel, there is no separation between the world of music and the world of politics.

Australian entrant Delta Goodrem had it right when asked about Israel’s involvement in Eurovision. She said, “When you come to my shows and you come to anything I’m performing at, I tell you to leave everything outside the door, come in here and we’re singing the same song.”

But those continually obsessed with the world’s only Jewish state are not just singing from a different song sheet – they are determined to force everyone else to sing it too.

Following Nova music festival massacre survivor Yuval Raphael’s stunning performance in the 2025 Eurovision competition, in which Israel won the public vote and narrowly finished second overall, some were deeply unhappy that Israel was even included at all.

Such exclusion feels familiar to the Jewish people. Over many centuries, Jews were frequently barred from practising certain professions, serving in political life, owning land, or even choosing where to live. They were made to pay specific taxes, wear distinguishing badges, and were often subject to sudden expulsion from their homes. All these practices were designed to ostracise Jews from society.

A version of these practices continues today, under the guise of attacking Israel. Boycotts are called against the nation, alongside attempts to remove it from international organisations. There is a concerted, deliberate campaign to delegitimise the Jewish state with a fervour no other country is ever subjected to – not China for its treatment of Uyghurs, not North Korea for its notorious prison camps and not Iran for its mammoth support for terrorism, its executions, and its mass murder of protesters.

Leading the campaign against Israel at Eurovision have been Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Iceland. They boycotted the show in protest of Israel’s defensive war against the Hamas terror network that attacked it on October 7, 2023. For these countries, it was more important to try to bring down Israel than to elevate their own cultural sectors. This kind of self-destructive element is a hallmark of those obsessed with the Jewish state. It’s a moral blindness that ignores the very principles these countries supposedly adhere to.

Technically, the decision to boycott came from public broadcasting bodies rather than national governments directly, but governments often set the tone. Last September, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez made remarks interpreted by many as lamenting that Spain lacked having a nuclear weapon to stop Israel’s war in Gaza. Meanwhile, in January 2025, Ireland joined the farcical genocide case against Israel launched by South Africa in the International Court of Justice.

Noam Bettan, the performer who sang Israel’s entry, Michelle, knew he would face a tsunami

of hatred aimed at the Jewish state.

Just as the song describes a toxic relationship, it also perhaps symbolised the toxic relationship between some of these European countries and Israel.

Bettan even practised singing the song with a chorus of booing coming into his headset so he would be ready to confront and overcome the ugliness that he knew would come his way simply because of his nationality. And he performed admirably on the night.

When Israel was elevated to the number one spot near the end of the public voting count, booing could be heard on our televisions. Undeterred, Bettan continued smiling, knowing he was not just representing a nation, but a people which has been subjected to similar campaigns of exclusion in the past.

What was telling, however, was the evidence in the voting that those in positions of authority often do not represent the greater public. Despite the efforts of some countries to change the competition rules and voting structure to blunt Israel’s recent strong Eurovision results, Israel still managed to finish third in the public vote, elevating it to second position overall.

In the end, the virtue-signalling and grandiose statements from countries trying to stop Israel from taking part meant nothing. While they wallowed in their own self-righteous misery – some countries refused even to broadcast Eurovision – Israelis and Jews worldwide enjoyed and celebrated the night. This wasn’t because of Israel’s position in the charts, but because Eurovision is a campy, fun celebration of music and indeed, of life itself.

Bettan finished his performance with “Am Yisrael chai!” Perhaps it’s time for those so determined to bring down Israel to choose to celebrate life, too.

The boycotting nations should reevaluate their own toxic relationships, and, as Delta Goodrem said, “leave everything outside the door” and learn to just enjoy the music instead.

Justin Amler is a policy analyst at the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC).