Eurovision Song Contest 2025: Irish support helped Israel secure second in competition, says Ireland Israel Alliance
The strong Irish support for Israel which helped it secure second place in the Eurovision Song Contest shows “a serious divorce between Irish public opinion and the prevailing national narrative” about the state, it is claimed.
Daniel O'Dowd, a spokesman for Ireland Israel Alliance, made the claim after Israel's singer Yuval Raphael came runner-up in the final on Saturday, with her song, A New Day Will Rise.
Ms Raphael narrowly survived the Hamas attack on Israel of 7 October 2023 by hiding under the bodies of friends at the Nova Music Festival, where gunmen killed over 350 young people. The subsequent, devastating, Israeli-Hamas war has dominated headlines ever since.
The Israeli singer was beaten by Austria's 'JJ' with his acclaimed song, Wasted Love, in a grand final of 25 different entries.
RTE had a formal meeting with the show's organisers to protest against Israel's involvement.
However, strong support from the Irish public and Irish jury at various stages of the competition helped secure Israel a place in the grand final.
Mr O'Dowd, who is Jewish and Irish, noted that the Israeli singer also got strong Irish support in the final itself.
"Israel's performance is testament to the fact that demonisation of Israel will not work," he said.
"Yuval Raphael - a defiant survivor of the Nova massacre - inspired millions across Europe with her courage and heroism."
He noted that elements of Irish society protest every year against Israel's participation.
"So to say that in 2025 this is due to Israel's military campaign in Gaza is false - opposition efforts against Israeli participation have dated back many years."
Mr O’Dowd noted that on the final scoreboard, Israel received 17 points overall from the Republic of Ireland - 10 from the Irish public and seven from the Irish jury.
"This shows two things," he said. "There is a serious divorce between Irish public opinion and the prevailing national narrative on Israel, and that Israel's entry was regarded by the Irish as a genuine competitor worthy of recognition and ultimately reward. This shows the level of grassroots support in Ireland for Israel."
While some made claims on social media that Israeli supporters had rigged the voting system, the show's organisers hit back, describing the system as "the most advanced in the world" with significant verification checks by a "huge" team.
Martin Green, Director of the Eurovision Song Contest said: "Our voting partner Once has confirmed that a valid vote was recorded in all countries participating in this year’s Grand Final and in the Rest of the World.
"The voting operation for the Eurovision Song Contest is the most advanced in the world and each country’s result is checked and verified by a huge team of people to exclude any suspicious or irregular voting patterns. An independent compliance monitor reviews both jury and public vote data to ensure we have a valid result.”
In 2022 organisers extended voting to its global audience and reduced the role of juries, following voting irregularities.
Scores are now weighted evenly 50% to national juries and 50% by 'televotes' from the public in all participating countries, who can vote by text message, phone call or via the contest’s app.