Israel will compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest on May 12 in Vienna, according to Monday’s draw.
Israel will face 14 other countries in its semi-final, including former Eurovision winners Estonia, Finland, Greece, Portugal, Serbia and Sweden, the draw at Vienna’s City Hall showed.
The second semi-final, set for May 14, will feature 15 countries, among them past winners Azerbaijan, Denmark, Latvia, Norway, Ukraine and Switzerland.
Ten songs from each semi-final will advance to the May 16 final, based on a combined jury and public vote. Host nation Austria, along with major financial contributors France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom, automatically qualify for the final.
Israel’s participation in this year’s contest was in question but was made possible after the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) cleared it to compete, prompting withdrawals by Iceland, Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, and Slovenia.
A growing number of countries have threatened to boycott the 70th edition of Eurovision unless Israel is excluded due to the war in Gaza.
Last April, shortly before the 2025 contest in Basel, formal requests to ban Israel were submitted by several countries, including Iceland and Spain.
The calls grew after Israel’s entry, “New Day Will Rise" performed by Yuval Raphael, came in second behind the Austrian winner, though Israel only received 60 points from the juries. The remaining 297 points came from the public, which overwhelmingly favored Israel’s entry over any other country.
Those results led broadcasters from Spain, Iceland, Belgium, Finland, and Ireland, to either request audits of their national televoting results or question the current methodology.
AFP noted in a report that EBU members have adopted new measures to strengthen the voting system, improve fraud detection and limit government-backed promotional efforts. Professional juries, which were abolished in 2022, will be returning for the semi-finals, with expanded and more diverse panels that include jurors aged 18 to 25.
Austria is hosting this year’s contest in Vienna after Austrian artist JJ won in Basel last year. He later called for Israel to be suspended from Eurovision, though he ultimately walked back those comments.