The case for declaring Israel's televote result invalid

[ag89]

My 20 votes went to Israel. That wasn’t organised, systematically political, nor anything regarding a social media campaign. I voted for my favourite song.

That is not an issue, I clearly stated Israel had some organic support. The rest was a well orchestrated political and media campaign paid by state and non-state actors in Israel and abroad.

 

[Slabsson79]

I wouldn't say it's invalid. There were clear boycott's from some of the more extreme pro-Palestine supporters which left room for the Zionists to vote politically

wow, so many "Zionists" around. Btw i like the usage of this word in a negative connotation. Gives one a Eastern Bloc 1950s retrofeeling...

 

[HarryUK]

wow, so many "Zionists" around. Btw i like the usage of this word in a negative connotation. Gives one a Eastern Bloc 1950s retrofeeling...

I mean you can read into it as much as you want but I never explicitly said it’s a negative thing lol

 

[jatojo]

That is not an issue, I clearly stated Israel had some organic support. The rest was a well orchestrated political and media campaign paid by state and non-state actors in Israel and abroad.

In my country Israel got loads of votes from the public. I never once saw any advertising or other promotion from Israel, even though my cookies should indicate that I'm interested in Eurovision.

 

[Uto]

In my country Israel got loads of votes from the public. I never once saw any advertising or other promotion from Israel, even though my cookies should indicate that I'm interested in Eurovision.

If you like Eurovision you are explicitly not the target audience for the ads. I have seen plenty, but these were all made by alt-right figures without any clear indication that Israel was behind it directly. These ads spread through alt-right groups, they would not reach the average Eurovision fan which is kind of the point to it.

 

[jatojo]

If you like Eurovision you are explicitly not the target audience for the ads. I have seen plenty, but these were all made by alt-right figures without any clear indication that Israel was behind it directly. These ads spread through alt-right groups, they would not reach the average Eurovision fan which is kind of the point to it.

Well, I can't say it wasn't there if I haven't seen it of course. It's like with UFO's.

But ultimately, it probably didn't have much impact, as there were tendencies that went the other way. Including jury members who gave Israel very few votes, and countries whose juries were massively criticized for giving points to Israel (many would have foreseen this and chosen not to vote for Israel). So all in all, as so often is, it wouldn't have made a big difference anyway - things even each other out.

Besides, I think Israel's song is strong enough to reach the top 10 at Eurovision no matter which country sent it. The ballads were weak this year, and even so they did well in the vote, including the televote.

 

[Lumina]

Well, people believe what they want to believe if it fits their narrative, even if it isn’t true. They try to hold the campaign responsible for Israel‘s success, because otherwise they would have to admit that people liked Israel or voted out of sympathy.

It’s a fact that big campaigns in the past flopped (for example Malta 2021) or in the present flopped (for example Poland 2024).
It’s not true that Eurovision fans are not the target. I saw dozens of Poland ads each day during the week before the final. In the end, it didn’t work out.

Joost even asked his fans in public (in his IG group) to volunteer, to organize votes for him. He made a call to find people all over the world to call for him. Given that he had almost a million follower at that time, his campaign was certainly as effective as Israel‘s.

In the end, the other artists are responsible for Israel‘s success. I am pretty sure the song is strong enough to make it into the top 5 in any year! But the overwhelming number of votes comes from people who were fed up with the Palestine movement and some artists bullying Eden. Whatever the artists wanted to achieve by bullying Eden - they achieved the opposite.
I saw hundreds or thousands of people here in Germany on social media who never saw an ad and never even watch the contest usually suddenly all calling to vote for Eden to support her after Joost‘s, Bambie‘s and Marina‘s behavior made it to our news.