by Florit Shoihet, May 17, 2026

Yoav Tsafir reflects on fears as booing became more intense as Israel came closer to winning in Vienna

The head of Israel’s Eurovision delegation said he felt a sense of relief when Noam Bettan’s entry was pipped to the post last night amid an increasingly hostile atmosphere in the hall.

“At that moment when we led and it wasn’t clear if Bulgaria would overtake us, the booing from the crowd was immense, and … it turned into violent booing toward the Israeli delegation,” Yoav Tsafir told Channel 12, adding: “I don’t know what would have happened if we had won”.

The director noted that until the announcement of the results, the atmosphere towards the Israeli delegation was better compared to the two previous contests. “There was a positive change, with no huge expressions of hate,” he said, and behind the scenes “there was huge appreciation” towards Noam Bettan and his song Michelle, pointing out even the jury panels awarded him 123 points, thus placing 8th before public votes came in.

Bulgaria’s Dara won her country’s first Eurovision title with the song Bangaranga, securing a total of 516 points, while Bettan finished in second place with 343 points. “Noam is a true professional, a strong guy with positive energy, a bit spiritual, and it all together leads to a perfect performance. We are very proud to bring joy to Israel in these days,” Tsafir said, adding Bulgaria did a “terrific job.”

Dara stood out as one of the only Eurovision artists who publicly supported Bettan’s performance by liking his rehearsal clip on social media and refusing to take that down despite intense pressure. During the finals the Bulgarian delegation even asked Israeli commentators to highlight her support for him during the broadcast.

Full story here.