Will he bring home the douze points? The Eurovision 2026 final is taking place Saturday night in Vienna, Austria, with Noam Bettan having performed his song "Michelle". As of now, Israel is ranked fifth in the betting odds.
The votes are being counted as the Eurovision 2026 Grand Final airs live on Kan 11 from Vienna, Austria. Israel’s representative, Noam Bettan, was the third contestant to perform during the festive evening. He delivered a strong and emotional vocal performance that swept up the arena crowd, who cheered loudly from the moment he stepped onto the stage, drowning out minor boos with thunderous applause.
Noam Bettan performing the song 'Michelle' — Eurovision 2026, Vienna
(Video: Courtesy of Kan, the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation and the European Broadcasting Union, EBU)
As the vote counting got underway, Israel had received 10 points from Ukraine, 7 points from Bulgaria, 4 points from Malta and 2 points from Switzerland.
Bettan delivered a strong and moving vocal performance, one of the best heard on the competition stage since the contest began — including the many rehearsals — and swept up the audience, which responded with loud applause from the moment he took the stage. He ended the performance by declaring, "Am Yisrael Chai."
Israel’s placement as the third song in the broadcast was decided by the production team, and Eurovision experts say such a slot could hurt its chances of winning — although in recent years, voting has been open from the start of the evening.
The jury rehearsal was held Friday night, during which half of the total points were already awarded. Israel’s delegation has allowed itself to dream of victory, with a delegation source telling ynet that, according to estimates, Israel is expected to rank near the top of the public vote — and that the key will be the jury score. Yoav Tzafir, the director of the act, added: "We are all closing our eyes and daring to dream of the trophy. It is possible."
Earlier Saturday, hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrated in Vienna against Israel’s participation in Eurovision, in the largest protest held in the city during the week of the contest. Following the demonstration, security officials barred some members of the Israeli delegation from leaving the arena compound.
Yuval Raphael on the night of the Eurovision 2026 final
(Video: Yuval Chen)
About an hour before the start of the grand final, Yuval Raphael, Israel’s previous Eurovision representative and one of the writers of "Michelle," arrived at the Vienna arena to support Bettan. Raphael finished in a stunning second place at the contest held in Switzerland and knows well how stressful and significant the moment Bettan is now facing can be. "We are excited beyond words. We are behind Noam, and I believe everyone watching now from behind the screen is behind Noam and just as excited as we are," she said.
"Our hearts are at 200, and we wish every success to our people and to everyone behind us. We are sending him so much love and keeping our fingers crossed. We are here on the map, despite them! Even if they do not want us here — we are here, and Noam is going to do this in a big way. We are behind him, we will support him today, and we ask everyone to vote Noam, vote 3!"
Raphael also shared what she went through last year and made clear that the whole experience was overwhelmingly positive for her: "For me, the Eurovision stage is one of the most incredible stages, and I had the most amazing experience in the world — mainly because of and thanks to our people, all the Jews in the Diaspora and all the people around the world who supported me so much. So it is a great honor and a great joy to come back here."
First published: 22:45, 05.16.26