Media pundits and anti-Israel activists were rebuffed by the wider European public last night after Eurovision fans ignored the relentless campaigning against the Jewish state and put its entry top of the public vote – the highest in the history of the competition.
Just ahead of the grand final involving Israel – whose singer Yuval Raphael was pipped into second place – commentators for Spanish television station RTVE said, live on air: “In the face of human rights, silence is not an option. Peace and justice for Palestine."
In comments that prompted a warning about politicisation from the European Broadcasting Union, RTVE pundits Julia Varela and Tony Aguilar also said during the second semi-final: "The victims of the Israeli attacks in Gaza now exceed 50,000, including more than 15,000 children, according to the United Nations."
Despite the comments, the Spanish public gave Israel the maximum 12 points.
Similarly, during the first semi-final Belgian public broadcaster VRT displayed the message: "This is industrial action. We condemn the violations of human rights by the State of Israel. Furthermore, the State of Israel is destroying freedom of the press. That's why we interrupt the picture for a moment. #CeasefireNow #StopGenocide."
As with Spain, the Belgian public appeared to have a very different view and awarded Israel 12 points.
The Irish public also appeared to spurn the anti-Israel messaging common in its national media and gave Israel an impressive 10 points.
The grand final in Basel, Switzerland, took place hours after a large pro-Palestinian “Nakba Day” protest in London, where thousands took to the streets and banners supporting Hamas and Hezbollah were seen.
Longstanding anti-Israel campaigner, the far-left former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, posted a celebratory image of the protest, saying: “Today, more than half a million people demonstrated on the streets of London to call on our government to end its complicity in genocide. We are an unstoppable movement for Palestine.”
However, hours later, the British public gave the Israeli Eurovision contestant 12 points – an indication that the Nakba march did not represent the views of a majority of British people.
Michael Dickson, Executive Director of pro-Israel advocacy group StandWithUs, posted on X: “Once again, the silent majority speaks: not the media who consistently distort what Israel is, not the loud-but-fringe extremists who hate the world’s only Jewish country. No, the silent majority who stand for good rewarded and embraced the bravest person on the Eurovision stage.”
Israel’s ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg Ambassador, Idit Rosenzweig-Abu said: “A beautiful result for Yuval Rafael at #Eurovision. Thank you to the Belgian and Luxembourg public! The silent majority has spoken again.”
