I don’t know why Israel is in the Eurovision song contest, because Israel is not part of Europe, either geographically or culturally. (Early Zionism was mostly European, but after the Arabs expelled Jews who had lived in those countries since Roman times, most immigration was Mizrahi.) Still, Israel is a part of Eurovision, and has been since 1973, when it was a much-admired little David of a nation. It has four times (1978, 1979, 1998, and 2018)

This year, though, it was questionable whether Israel would be allowed even to perform, given European nations’ animosity to Israel since October 7. But then, something amazing happened: While the self-styled “elite” (that is, people with college degrees or in the art world) did their best to keep Israel from even placing at Eurovision, the ordinary people of Europe rose up and gave Israel so much support that it came in first place, but then was pushed into second. Long after the winner is forgotten, Israel’s second-place showing will be remembered.

To represent it in the 2025 Eurovision contest, Israel sent Yuval Raphael to sing “New Day Will Rise,” written by Keren Peles. Raphael was at the Nova festival on October 7 and survived, in Holocaust fashion, by hiding under a pile of bodies and playing dead. And no, I can’t even imagine the trauma of that experience.

The song is about the fact that those who are gone live on with us, but that we must face the future with courage. Obviously, the symbolism is rich. Raphael has a voice both ethereal and powerful, so it’s a real heart-tugger:

The usual activists were so incensed that Israel would appear at the contest that they engaged in protests (surprise!) to keep Raphael from appearing:

pic.twitter.com/O0A6HfzFgF
Thousands of Muslims and their political allies flooded the streets of Switzerland — not to demand peace, not to condemn Hamas — but to protest Israel’s Eurovision contestant, Yuval Raphael, for the “crime” of surviving.

Yuval lived through the Nova Music…

— Liza Rosen (@LizaRosen0000) May 17, 2025

To the Eurovision organizers’ credit, they didn’t let the mob stop them. Instead, the contest went on and Raphael sang her song to wild applause from the audience:

Israel’s Eurovision entry Yuval Raphael delivers powerful performance of her song ‘New Day Will Rise’ during the Eurovision final.

She ended her performance by declaring ‘Am Yisrael Chai’ which translates as ‘The People of Israel Live.’

pic.twitter.com/uvDDzAXHdq

— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) May 17, 2025

And then a real miracle happened. The people of Europe began to vote, and the most popular (call-in and online) votes went to...Raphael, and they did so by a huge margin:

Public domain.

Ireland, arguably the most anti Israel and anti Semitic country in Europe (for unknown reasons), voted for the Israelite performance. In other words, a virulent minority in the government and in the streets of Dublin do not reflect the feeling of the people of Ireland. Same thing for the UK. Remember the gigantic rallies in London? Seems London ain't England. #Eurovision2025

The nation-by-nation breakdown is fascinating because some of the strongest support for Israel came from the nations with the most antisemitic governments (and the most aggressive efforts to resettle Muslims in Europe): 

Ireland, arguably the most anti Israel and anti Semitic country in Europe (for unknown reasons), voted for the Israelite performance.
In other words, a virulent minority in the government and in the streets of Dublin do not reflect the feeling of the people of Ireland.
Same thing… https://t.co/3JLMhBZbgH

— daniel duquenal (@danielduquenal) May 18, 2025

In Switzerland, which hosted Eurovision this year, violent anti-Israel protesters demonstrated—yet the Swiss public awarded Israel 12 points.

In Spain, where "Justice for Palestine" appeared on screen before Israel's performance, the Spanish public still gave Israel 12 points.

In Portugal, where the 2017 Eurovision winner led 72 former contestants demanding Israel's exclusion from the competition, the Portuguese public awarded Israel 12 points.

Despite endless anti-Israel protests in Paris, London, and Amsterdam over the past year, viewers in France, Britain, and the Netherlands all awarded Israel 12 points.

Even in Australia, the only non-European country participating where antisemitism has been on the rise, Australians gave Israel 12 points.

Ireland, which called for Israel's disqualification from Eurovision, still awarded Israel 10 points through public voting.

Other countries that criticized Israel's participation—including Finland, Sweden, Norway, and more—saw their public give points to Israel.

Israel ranked first in worldwide public voting!

Forget the jury votes, which are all politics and don't represent their citizens (as we've seen). The only country where judges gave Israel 12 points was, surprisingly, a Muslim nation—Azerbaijan.[*] Europe has made a clear choice: in the face of antisemitism and hatred, the people stand with Israel

As you can see, the only reason that Israel didn’t sweep the board with a massive Eurovision victory was that the judges put their thumbs on the scale for Austria. I’m sure it had nothing to do with the fact that Austria was Hitler’s home country, was the first country Hitler “conquered” because the Austrians welcomed him in, and now sees a situation where German is the native language of a minority of Vienna’s students. It’s also worth noting that JJ, Austria’s winner, is gay, half Filipino, and grew up in Dubai.

What we’re seeing here is the gaping divide between those who control nations (the “elite” classes who have college educations and, often, who work in the arts community) and the ordinary people. The ordinary people are observing something I’ve harped on for a long time:

Nations that treat their own people badly always start by treating the Jews badly. Jews, it turns out, are the canaries in the coalmine when it comes to totalitarianism. If a tyrant can succeed in getting the people to accept attacks on Jews, he knows that he can lock in despotism. In a liberty-based country, one that treats its Jews well, everyone else in the country ends up being treated well, too.

And so the ordinary people—the ones tired of governments that flood countries with hordes of immigrants violently hostile to European values; deny reality by trying to gaslight citizens into believing that biological sex is a fantasy, while perverse fantasies and mental illness are realities; disarm them so they are helpless before invaders; and systematically silence any speech or thought that offends the ruling class—these ordinary people speak out in the only way they can, by voting for Israel, the front line in the battle against Islam.

By the way, if you’re curious about the winning song, here it is in all its glory:

Austria wins Eurovision 2025! ????????

???? JJ (Johannes Pietsch) delivers a breathtaking performance of “Wasted Love”—a fusion of opera and techno that captivated Europe. #Eurovision #ESC2025 #AustriaWins #WastedLove #JJ #EurovisionFinal #PublicVote #JuryVote #TeamAustria pic.twitter.com/Dekx22Al2e

— Robert Tschelebinski (@RTschelebinski) May 17, 2025

I think that shrill, hysterically emotive, ear-piercing performance is easily equal to the 21st Century Viking in the brilliant Eurovision spoof movie Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga. Truly, parody is impossible today:

Image: X screen grab.

______________________

* For American Thinker readers, the close ties between Israel and Azerbaijan are not a surprise.