Oh, Vienna: it’s oh-so-close for Israel as Noam Bettan comes second in Eurovision final

The popular vote that followed had been expected to deliver a good result for Israel, and so it proved, with an award of 222 points, adding up to 343 points and a position at the top of the table.

There Israel remained until the very last moment, when Bulgaria also claimed a vast boost from the popular vote to climb to 516 and a win for Dara singing Bangaranga.

But Bettan’s second place – repeating the success of Yuval Raphael last year – was a triumphant display of defiance after the unsuccessful calls for a boycott of Israel.

In the tense wait through the jury vote, there had been particular boosts for Israel with 12 points from Poland and 10 points from both Ukraine and Moldova.

Israel received zero points from the United Kingdom, which came bottom with just one point from the juries and none from the popular vote.

Noam Bettan performing Michelle with dancers and diamond-shaped prop in the final (Corinne Cumming/EBU)Corinne Cumming/EBU

Earlier, Bettan had delivered an astonishing performance of Michelle to make Israel and his fans across the world proud, performing in front of an estimated 150 million viewers watching live worldwide.

Michelle was written by Bettan, along with Yuval Raphael – the Nova survivor who came second in last year’s contest – and Nadav Aharoni and Tzlil Klifi.

The song has been a hit, with 6 million streams on Spotify, including one million in just the past week.

Finishing his performance, he said before leaving the stage: “Thank you, Europe. I love you all. Toda Raba. Am Yisrael chai!”

Bettan was the third act on in the final, performing his song with lyrics in Hebrew, French and English.

BBC presenter Graham Norton described it as an “upbeat, romantic pop song”, and a break from Israel’s recent tradition in Eurovision of “power ballads”.

Bettan had earlier taken part in the parade of performers waving their nation’s flags at the start of the show.

Norton praised Bettan, saying he “performs very well”, adding that his performance was “clever staging” in a “sort of reflective diamond” as he described the glitzy, stylish design.

As the performance began, the singer was greeted with what Norton called “a slightly mixed response in the hall”, adding: “I’m not sure what we’re hearing.”

But Bettan appeared completely unfazed, and he and his troupe of dancers gave a flawless performance, to largely rapturous applause.

Veteran Eurovision host Norton said afterwards: “I would say that’s a largely positive reaction tonight, a lot of Israeli flags.”

He added “Whatever the jury vote, expect that to do incredibly well with the viewer vote.

“I imagine that will be top three.”

Noam Bettan draped in the flag of Israel at start of the final (Sarah Louise Bennett/EBU)Sarah Louise Bennett / EBU

Earlier, Gal Gadot had called Bettan, who had been faced with booing in today’s rehearsals and at Tuesday night’s semi-final.

Influencer Hen Mazzig shared a clip of the phone call, in which the Israeli film star said: “All the hate has no power over you. You’re amazing. You’re talented. The more they boo you, the louder we’ll get.”

Earlier this year, Bettan, 28, told the JC how he would not be put off by the boycott calls and protests and instead will focus on positivity. He said: “I’m trying to see the love of God in everything and in every opportunity Even if you have something that hurts you along the way.”

There had been small-scale protests in Vienna against the participation.

However, others have publicly welcomed Bettan, including the Young Greens of Austria, who put out a video on Instagram saying they give “zero points to antisemitism”.

The post declared: “Boycotting Israel's participation in Eurovision, booing and harassing the Israeli artists will not free Palestine.

“What it will do is contribute to a hateful environment against Jews that make Jewish life in Europe more and more unsafe.

“Which is why we‘re giving zero points to antisemitism!”

Attempts to force Israel out of the contest over the conflict in Gaza have been rejected by organisers the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).

However, five countries which had lobbied for a boycott have pulled out from this year’s contest: Ireland, Spain, Slovenia, the Netherlands and Iceland.

There have also been accusations that Israel and its supporters have attempted to take unfair advantage of voting rules, although others argue many countries’ fans do all they can to promote their performers.

The controversy has led to changes in the EBU’s rules, including a cap on the number of votes for each member of the public of just 10, down on the previous limit of 20.