A wave of criticism has followed Israel’s surprise victory in the public vote at last weekend’s Eurovision Song Contest, with several European broadcasters and politicians calling for a thorough review of the voting process and increased transparency.
Israeli contestant Yuval Raphael soared to the top of the viewer vote with her ballad New Day Will Rise, earning maximum points from audiences in Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Ireland and Finland gave her 10 points each.
Despite receiving only joint 14th place from the national juries, the strong public support propelled Israel to second place overall, behind Austria, which won due to a higher jury score.
Broadcasters from Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands, Finland, Iceland, and Belgium have since voiced concern over the credibility of the televoting system, with Irish broadcaster RTÉ formally requesting a full breakdown of the results from organisers.
Similarly, Spain’s RTVE has demanded an audit and a review of the rules that allow individuals to vote up to 20 times via phone, text, or app.
Flemish MP Katia Segers criticized the current voting structure, calling it “a system that encourages manipulation.” She urged for an investigation into whether any irregularities occurred across all participating and non-participating countries.
VRT, the Flemish public broadcaster, echoed the sentiment, noting: “We have no indication that the counting of the televotes wasn’t carried out correctly, but we are asking for complete transparency on the part of the EBU.”
Finland’s national broadcaster YLE also expressed reservations, saying it would consult the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to determine whether the rules should be updated to prevent potential abuse.
The Dutch broadcasters Avrotros and NPO went a step further, questioning whether Eurovision could still claim to be an “apolitical, unifying, and cultural event.”
In a joint statement, they said the contest appeared to be “increasingly influenced by societal and geopolitical tensions,” with Israel’s participation being a focal point of controversy.
The backlash comes amid reports by Eurovision News, an EBU-affiliated outlet, that an Israeli government agency had paid for online advertisements and used state-run social media accounts to encourage votes for Raphael. Eurovision contest director Martin Green confirmed this activity did not breach contest rules.
Green defended the integrity of the voting system, stating: “The voting operation for the Eurovision Song Contest is the most advanced in the world… each country’s result is checked and verified by a huge team to exclude any suspicious or irregular voting patterns.”
He also confirmed that the EBU’s voting partner, Once, had verified all votes from the Grand Final, including those from the “Rest of the World” category, and an independent compliance monitor had validated both the jury and public vote data.
In response to the controversy, Green announced that a “broad discussion” would be held with participating broadcasters to gather feedback and reflect on this year’s competition, indicating possible reforms ahead of Eurovision 2025.