Dozens of ecstatic Israeli Eurovision fans in Tel Aviv celebrated a “surprising” second-place finish for their representative singer Noam Bettan as the contest stretched into the early hours of Sunday (May 17).

Despite this year’s contest final being overshadowed by five countries' boycott over Gaza, the major public vote boosted Israel to second place, while Bulgaria won.

The garish and usually good-natured competition involving pop acts from countries across Europe and beyond, now in its 70th year, was plunged into crisis by a dispute over Israel's military offensive in Gaza, a response to the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023.

“I was a bit surprised, I thought we were going to be maximum third place because, you know, there's too much politics in the voting process…Maybe the Jewish communities gave their support around the world and Israel jumped all of a sudden,” said Tal Adiv, who attended a Eurovision special public screening in Tel Aviv.

Israel has alleged a global smear campaign against it. Its performance at the final was not, however, marred by any obvious protests, unlike Tuesday's semi-final. Israel's effort, trilingual love song "Michelle", stirred less controversy than its entry last year, which was sung by a survivor of the October 7 attack.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

1. UPSOUND OF EUROVISION BROADCAST HEARD SAYING (English): “ISRAEL” / ISRAELI FANS CHEERING

2. VARIOUS OF ISRAELI FANS CHEERING AS RESULTS OF EUROVISION FINALS VOTES ARE ANNOUNCED

3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) 28-YEAR-OLD ISRAELI EUROVISION FAN, MIKA BAHAT, SAYING:

“It’s very exciting, we’re very proud in Israel of Noam Bettan, and we’re so excited. Yeah.”

4. VARIOUS OF ISRAELI FANS CHEERING

5. (SOUNDBITE) (English) 46-YEAR-OLD ISRAELI EUROVISION FAN, TAL ADIV, SAYING:

“I was a bit surprised, I thought we were going to be maximum third place because, you know, there's too much politics in the voting process. And I was surprised. Maybe the Jewish communities gave their support around the world and Israel jumped all of a sudden. And the energy was high, and flags were waving, we were dancing.”

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL (MAY 16, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

6. ISRAELIS DANCING AND SINGING DURING EUROVISION FINALS SCREENING EVENT

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL (MAY 17, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

7. VARIOUS OF ISRAELIS DANCING AND SINGING

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL (MAY 16, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

8. TWO WOMEN EMBRACING

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL (MAY 17, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

9. (SOUNDBITE) (English) 28-YEAR-OLD ISRAELI EUROVISION FAN, ELYANA ELYAN, SAYING:

“I was not surprised at all. We have seen this in the last few years, that although we don't receive a lot of votes from the jury, that the public massively supports us. And we have seen Israel jump from the bottom of the list to the top of the list the last two years as well. So I'm very happy with the public votes and how well we have done.”

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL (MAY 16, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

10. VARIOUS OF ISRAELIS DANCING DURING EUROVISION SCREENING EVENT

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL (MAY 17, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

9. (SOUNDBITE) (English) ISRAELI EUROVISION FAN, ELYANA ELYAN, SAYING:

“It was amazing, and we were so happy to see how the points of the public got Israel so up on the top three, and we support Israel, and am Israel chai (long live Israel)!”

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL (MAY 16, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

10. VARIOUS OF ISRAELIS AT EUROVISION FINALS SCREENING EVENT