At the same time that several thousand demonstrators protested against Israel’s warfare in Gaza in Malmö on Thursday evening, Israel was read out as one of the candidates for Saturday’s Eurovision final.
Before the semi-final, Israel’s contribution was in eighth place on the betting lists of who will take the victory this year.
After Thursday’s broadcast, twenty-year-old Eden Golan has climbed to second place, according to the website Eurovision World.
The website compiles odds from several betting companies.
On Friday morning, according to the bookmakers, Israel has a 17 percent chance of winning the entire song competition, behind Croatia in first place with a 40 percent chance of winning.
May have revealed vote distribution
Italian broadcaster RAI may have released the results of the televised vote during Thursday’s live semi-final.
In a strip across the screen scrolled what appeared to be the Italians’ distribution of votes. While no other country received more than eight percent of Italians’ votes, Israel is listed with a whopping 39.31 percent.
The Golan and Israel’s participation has received a mixed reception from this year’s Eurovision audience.
During a rehearsal for the TV broadcast on Thursday afternoon, several people in the hall booed when Golan stood on stage.
The artist was surrounded by security forces when she was on her way to the arena in Malmö:
Massive criticism
In recent months, the EBU has received harsh criticism for allowing Israel to participate in the song contest, at the same time that the bombs continue to fall on the Gaza Strip.
So far, over 34,000 people have been killed during the country’s warfare in Gaza.
During the first semi-final on Wednesday, Sweden’s Eric Saade opened the Eurovision show wearing one keffiyeh Palestine scarftwined around the arm.
Saade himself has Palestinian origins.
Several broadcasting companies have also been criticized for broadcasting the competition as long as Israel is involved. Earlier this year, NRK received almost 100 complaints from the public about Israel’s participation.
A survey by Respons Analyze on behalf of VG shows that one in five Norwegians will boycott Eurovision because of Israel’s participation. Two out of three think Israel should not participate.
Aftonbladet’s Eurovision expert Tobbe Ek believes that the protests against Israel’s participation can have the opposite effect and perhaps give the country the victory, by generating votes of support for Israel.
“This is an insight that has spread throughout the Eurovision world over the past week. Many do not even want to think about what an Israeli victory would mean for Eurovision,” writes Ek.
On Friday morning, Norway is in 14th place on the betting lists, with a chance of winning of one percent.
