Bulgarian singer Dara’s Eurovision win has prompted speculation over whether runner-up Israel could host next year’s contest if Bulgaria is unable to do so, but Israeli officials familiar with the matter dismissed the possibility.
Bulgaria won the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna with Bangaranga, its first victory in the competition. Israel’s Noam Bettan finished second with Michelle, scoring 343 points in a contest marked by political tension, protests and boycotts by five countries over Israel’s participation.
Despite reports that Bulgaria may struggle to host the contest next year, Israeli officials said they do not expect the European Broadcasting Union to offer Israel the role.
“The EBU can do whatever it wants, and it is not obligated to offer hosting to Israel,” one official told ynet. “Everyone knows that at this time, hosting Eurovision in Israel would be very complicated. No one will want to get into that movie. If five countries boycotted just because of our participation, one can imagine what hosting in Israel would do. Maybe we will win next year and the geopolitical situation will be less complex.”
This year’s contest, the 70th Eurovision, was held in Vienna and featured 25 finalists. Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Iceland boycotted the competition over Israel’s participation following the Gaza war.
Israel nevertheless posted one of its strongest Eurovision showings in years. After several years in which most European juries gave Israel few points, 22 of 34 juries awarded points to Israel this year, led by Poland, which gave Michelle its maximum 12 points.
The public vote was even stronger for Israel. Bettan received 220 points from viewers, placing third in the televote, including 12 points from Azerbaijan, Portugal, Switzerland, Germany, France and Finland. Only three countries gave Israel no public-vote points: Australia, Lithuania and Croatia.
Television ratings in Israel were also high. The Eurovision final averaged a 32.7% rating, while Bettan’s performance drew a 53.2% rating, meaning about 1.7 million viewers watched live.