By the sum of mutual voting:
Ukraine → Israel: 15 points
Israel → Ukraine: 4 points
…
Difference: Ukraine gave Israel 11 points more than Israel gave Ukraine.
Eurovision 2026 in Vienna once again became not only a music contest but also a major political and cultural test for Europe, Israel, and Ukraine. Formally, songs, voices, performances, and artistry competed on stage. But behind the scoreboard, war, boycotts, public sympathies, jury caution, and that very audience voting, which often disrupts expert and bookmaker predictions, emerged again.
Israel once again took second place. Once again, the boycott did not work as its supporters had hoped. Once again, the audience was more generous than the professional juries, although in 2026 the gap between them was not as sharp as the year before.
Noam Bettan received 343 points: 123 from the jury and 220 from the audience. Ukraine with LELÉKA and the song Ridnym took ninth place, scoring 221 points. Bulgaria won with 516 points.
That is why the final is important not only as another entry in the history of the contest. For the Israeli audience, it is a story of how the country once again withstood pressure. For the Ukrainian audience, it is about how Ukraine’s voice remains heard but is already facing the fatigue of the international audience and the caution of the jury.
Israel again second: the jury became more generous, the audience remained the main support
The main figure for Israel is 343 points and second place. This is already a strong result in itself, especially against the backdrop of boycott campaigns, protests, and attempts to turn Israel’s participation into a political scandal.
But if you break down the result into parts, the picture becomes more interesting.
In 2026, Noam Bettan received 123 points from the jury. This is more than twice the result that Yuval Raphael received from professional commissions the year before: 123 versus 60.
At the same time, audience support, although still very high, was no longer as absolute as the previous year. Noam received 220 points from the public. The year before, the Israeli result was based on a significantly stronger audience wave.
In 2026, Israel received points from the jury of 22 out of 34 countries. For comparison: the previous year, Israel received points from the judges of 14 out of 39 countries. So the jury did not become completely friendly but stopped looking like an almost closed wall.
Jury voting for Israel — 123 points
Professional juries distributed points to Israel as follows:
Poland — 12
Ukraine — 10
Moldova — 10
Albania — 8
Austria — 8
Lithuania — 8
Armenia — 7
Bulgaria — 7
Denmark — 7
Georgia — 6
Romania — 6
Croatia — 5
Azerbaijan — 4
France — 4
Malta — 4
San Marino — 4
Serbia — 4
Germany — 3
Czech Republic — 2
Switzerland — 2
Belgium — 1
Norway — 1
Who did not give Israel points from the jury: Estonia, Latvia, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Portugal, Greece, Australia, United Kingdom, Finland, Sweden, Cyprus, Italy, and ‘the rest of the world’, meaning votes cast by countries not participating in the contest.
Particularly notable here are Ukraine and Moldova. Ukraine gave Israel 10 points, although the year before it gave only 2. Moldova gave Israel nothing the previous year but now gave 10.
Israel received only one highest score — 12 points from Poland. The previous year, the only 12 points from the jury to Israel came from Azerbaijan. Then no one gave 10 points, and France and Ireland gave 7 points each.
Audience voting for Israel — 220 points
Audience voting once again became Israel’s main resource. Noam Bettan received 220 points from the public.
France — 12
Azerbaijan — 12
Germany — 12
Switzerland — 12
Portugal — 12
Finland — 12
Albania — 10
Georgia — 10
United Kingdom — 10
Moldova — 8
Belgium — 8
Italy — 8
Cyprus — 8
Austria — 7
Armenia — 7
Malta — 7
Sweden — 7
Romania — 6
Rest of the world — 6
Ukraine — 5
Bulgaria — 5
Norway — 5
Greece — 5
Czech Republic — 5
Serbia — 4
Montenegro — 4
Latvia — 4
San Marino — 3
Poland — 2
Denmark — 2
Luxembourg — 1
Estonia — 1
Who did not give Israel points from the audience: Australia, Lithuania, and Croatia.
In the audience voting, Israel received 12 points from six countries. This is exactly half as many as the year before. But even such ‘reduced’ support turned out to be huge against the backdrop of pressure, boycott calls, and attempts to portray Israel as a country that the European public is supposedly ready to completely reject.
For the second year in a row, the maximum to Israel was given by Germany, Azerbaijan, France, Switzerland, and Portugal. The previous year, the countries that gave Israel 12 points also included Spain and the Netherlands, but in 2026 they boycotted the contest.
Australia as the strangest episode
Australia stands out separately. The previous year, Australian viewers gave Israel the highest score — 12 points. In 2026, Australia was the only country that did not give Israel a single point from either the jury or the audience.
At the same time, Israel voted very generously for Australia: the Israeli jury gave Australia 12 points, and Israeli viewers gave 10.
This asymmetry is particularly noticeable. The Australian jury’s voting can still be explained by the general atmosphere in the country and strong pro-Palestinian sentiments in the public sphere. But zero from the audience after last year’s 12 points looks not just like a change in musical preferences but a sharp public turnaround.
For Israel, this is an important signal: even where there was strong audience support yesterday, the situation can change quickly.
Ukraine and Israel: how they voted for each other
A separate line of the final is the mutual voting of Ukraine and Israel. It is here that the dry scoreboard becomes particularly sensitive because behind it are not only music and stage performance but also relations between societies, memory, war, diaspora, and the expectation of mutual support.
Ukraine gave Israel significant points.
The professional jury of Ukraine gave Noam Bettan 10 points. This is one of the highest scores Israel received from national juries in the final. Only Poland was higher with 12 points.
Ukrainian viewers also supported Israel, but more restrainedly — 5 points. For a final where there was a campaign of pressure and boycott around Israel’s participation, this is still an important signal: the Ukrainian audience did not nullify Israel and did not follow the logic of complete rejection.
On the Israeli side, the picture was different.
Israeli viewers gave Ukraine 4 points. This means that the Ukrainian entry LELÉKA with the song Ridnym was noticed and received support from part of the Israeli public but did not enter the main favorites of the Israeli televoting.
However, the Israeli jury did not give Ukraine any points. The previous year, the Israeli jury gave Ukraine 4 points, and in 2026 — zero.
Against the backdrop of the Ukrainian jury giving Israel 10 points, this moment is particularly noticeable.
Ukraine supported Israel more strongly than Israel supported Ukraine
If you look only at the numbers, an unpleasant but important asymmetry arises: Ukraine supported Israel more strongly than Israel supported Ukraine.
Ukraine to Israel – 15 points:
jury — 10 points;
audience — 5 points.
Israel to Ukraine – 4 points:
jury — 0 points;
audience — 4 points.
For the Ukrainian community in Israel, for repatriates from Ukraine, for Ukrainians who permanently reside in Israel, and for those who found themselves in the country after Russia’s invasion in 2022, such a difference may be perceived painfully. On a human level, Ukraine and Israel often seem closer than what the professional voting table showed.
But “Eurovision” is arranged in such a way that public sympathy, political context, and jury decisions do not always coincide. Sometimes viewers vote with their hearts, while the jury votes based on their own professional, taste, or cautious criteria. As a result, a gap arises, which is then discussed not as a musical detail, but as a symbol of attitude.
NANews — Israel News | Nikk.Agency considers the final not as an easy musical chronicle, but as a mirror of how Israel, Ukraine, and Europe simultaneously vote with music, memory, fear, habit, and political background. When the Ukrainian jury gives Israel 10 points, and the Israeli jury gives Ukraine nothing, it is not necessarily a diplomatic signal. But it is definitely a reason to closely watch how cultural ties manifest in public tables.
Ukraine in the final: ninth place and 221 points
In 2026, Ukraine performed with the song Ridnym. LELÉKA brought a number to the stage with a bandura, ethnic motifs, the theme of home, and the internal pain of a country that continues to live under the blows of Russia.
Ukraine took ninth place, scoring 221 points.
Of them:
167 points — from viewers;
54 points — from the jury.
It was the viewer support that became the basis of the Ukrainian result. Professional juries were significantly more restrained, and this caused discussion among the Ukrainian audience.
The highest score from the professional jury Ukraine received was from Switzerland — 12 points.
Ukraine was also supported by:
United Kingdom — 7 points;
France — 6 points;
Italy — 7 points;
Azerbaijan — 10 points;
Latvia — 7 points;
Portugal — 3 points;
Romania — 1 point;
Poland — 1 point.
At the same time, 24 countries did not give Ukraine a single point from the national jury. Among them are Sweden, Germany, Georgia, Australia, Israel, Austria, Greece, Belgium, Finland, Bulgaria, and others.
For Ukraine, this is not a failure. Ninth place at “Eurovision” is a strong result. But against the backdrop of the military context, emotional performance, and audience expectations, it is perceived more complexly: viewers supported Ukraine much more strongly than professional commissions.
Why the Ukrainian result is important for Israel
For the Israeli audience, the Ukrainian result is not just a neighboring line in the table. Ukraine and Israel in recent years have increasingly found themselves in a similar situation on international cultural platforms: their participants are evaluated not only as artists but also as representatives of countries around which there is war, diplomatic dispute, and informational struggle.
Ukraine lives under the blows of Russia. Israel, after October 7 and the war in Gaza, faces attempts at cultural pressure and exclusion.
These situations are different in nature, but on the “Eurovision” stage, both countries find themselves inside one mechanism: the viewer hears the song, but at the same time sees the flag, news, pain, political background, and their own ideas of justice.
In 2026, Ukraine showed that its cultural voice remains audible. But it also faced the fact that emotional strength alone is no longer enough for automatic entry into the top three. In the fourth year of Russia’s great war against Ukraine, the international audience still reacts, but not as it did in the first months of the invasion.
For Israel, there is also a lesson in this. Viewer support can be huge, but it is not eternal and not guaranteed. It needs to be maintained not only with symbols but also with the quality of performance, a clear story, a strong stage, and an accurate hit in the mood of the audience.
What the whole table showed: boycott, viewers, jury, and the Israeli series of recent years
Bulgaria’s victory became a separate story of the final. The representative of Bulgaria received 516 points and took first place. Against this result, Israel with 343 points was second, and Ukraine with 221 points was ninth.
But in a political sense, the main question was not only the first place.
The main question sounded differently: did the boycott manage to break Israel’s participation?
The answer of the table is no.
Israel not only remained in the competition. It again found itself in second place. Moreover, the country received strong viewer support even from countries where the anti-Israel agenda sounds loud and aggressive.
Traditionally high was the voting for Israel in countries that are often considered pro-Palestinian in public atmosphere. That is why it would be especially interesting to see how the Netherlands, Ireland, and Spain would have voted if they had participated in the competition. Last year the reaction there was stormy, and in 2026 these countries boycotted the competition.
United Kingdom and a new wave of irritation
A separate intrigue is the United Kingdom. Its performer received only 1 point and took last place. After such a result, accusations of a political conspiracy and attempts to explain the failure through external forces have already appeared in local discussions.
It will not be surprising if next year in the United Kingdom voices for boycotting Israel increase. For part of the European public, it is often easier to explain their own failure with politics than with a weak song, unsuccessful staging, or lack of contact with the viewer.
But this is exactly what makes “Eurovision” so indicative. There simultaneously exist music, show, national complexes, political campaigns, diasporas, grievances, and real viewer sympathies.
How Israel voted
Israel also distributed its points in a revealing way.
Israel jury voting:
12 points — Australia;
10 — Denmark;
8 — Bulgaria;
7 — Finland;
6 — Moldova;
5 — Greece;
4 — Romania;
3 — Italy;
2 — Belgium;
1 — Albania.
Israel viewer voting:
12 points — Bulgaria;
10 — Australia;
8 — Moldova;
7 — Italy;
6 — Denmark;
5 — Greece;
4 — Ukraine;
3 — Romania;
2 — France;
1 — Albania.
Here Ukraine stands out again. Last year Israeli viewers gave Ukraine 12 points, and in 2026 — only 4. The Israeli jury last year gave Ukraine 4 points, and now gave none.
This means the decline in support for Ukraine from Israel occurred on two lines: among viewers and the jury.
This does not mean a lack of sympathy between societies. But it shows that in the competition, sympathy does not always turn into a high score, especially when there are many strong numbers on stage, and each audience has its own emotional favorites.
Israeli series: 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026
The result of Noam Bettan continued the strong Israeli series of recent years.
In 2023, Noa Kirel took third place with the song Unicorn, scoring 362 points. Of them, 185 points came from viewers and 177 from the jury.
In 2024, Eden Golan took fifth place with the song Hurricane, scoring 375 points. Of them, 323 points were given by viewers and 52 by judges.
In 2025, Yuval Raphael took second place. Then the Israeli result largely relied on huge viewer support, and the jury was noticeably colder.
In 2026, Noam Bettan again took second place. But now the jury gave Israel 123 points, and viewers — 220.
This no longer looks like a coincidence. Israel has remained at the top of the table for several years in a row, despite political pressure, boycott campaigns, and attempts to turn the competition into a platform for cultural exclusion.
Historical context: Israel’s victories and second places
Israel has four victories at “Eurovision”:
1978 — Izhar Cohen and Alphabeta;
1979 — Gali Atari and the group “Milk and Honey”;
1998 — Dana International;
2018 — Netta Barzilai.
Israel also had second places:
1982 — Avi Toledano;
1983 — Ofra Haza;
2025 — Yuval Raphael;
2026 — Noam Bettan.
In this historical line, the result of 2026 is especially noticeable. Israel not only returned to high positions. It maintains them during a period when its participation every year becomes the subject of international disputes.
Why the 2026 final is important not only for contest fans
“Eurovision-2026” showed that Europe votes more complexly than it speaks. At the slogan level, one can demand a boycott of Israel, but the viewer table shows a different reality. One can talk about fatigue from Ukraine, but the Ukrainian song still receives 167 points from the public and remains in the top 10.
The jury and viewers diverged again.
Viewers voted more emotionally. The jury — more cautiously. Israel again received more from the public than from professionals. Ukraine also received much more from viewers than from the jury.
In this sense, Israel and Ukraine found themselves in a similar situation: both countries bring to the stage not only a song but also a large political background that cannot be turned off with the push of a button.
The final in Vienna became a mirror of Europe. It simultaneously reflected music, boycott, war, memory, irritation, sympathy, fear, fatigue, and the power of viewer voting.
Israel saw that it cannot simply be erased from the cultural map. Ukraine saw that its voice remains important, but the struggle for the world’s attention is becoming more difficult.
And for both countries, this is not a final point, but a new stage where music again turned out to be much more than just a song.
Israel and Ukraine: who received how much from the jury and viewers
This table summarizes the data for Israel and Ukraine: separately jury points, separately viewer points, and the total for each country. For Israel, there is a complete breakdown. For Ukraine, in the open text breakdown of viewer votes, 152 points out of the official 167 were found, so the missing 15 points are separately noted below.
| Country | Jury to Israel | Viewers to Israel | Total to Israel | Jury to Ukraine | Viewers to Ukraine | Total Ukraine |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Austria | 8 | 7 | 15 | 4 | 4 | |
| Azerbaijan | 4 | 12 | 16 | 10 | 4 | 14 |
| Albania | 8 | 10 | 18 | 7 | 7 | |
| Armenia | 7 | 7 | 14 | 0 | ||
| Belgium | 1 | 8 | 9 | 5 | 5 | |
| Bulgaria | 7 | 5 | 12 | 7 | 7 | |
| United Kingdom | 10 | 10 | 7 | 7 | ||
| Germany | 3 | 12 | 15 | 0 | ||
| Greece | 5 | 5 | 0 | |||
| Georgia | 6 | 10 | 16 | 12 | 12 | |
| Denmark | 7 | 2 | 9 | 7 | 7 | |
| Israel | — | — | — | 4 | 4 | |
| Italy | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 13 | |
| Cyprus | 8 | 8 | 4 | 4 | ||
| Latvia | 4 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 12 | |
| Lithuania | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | ||
| Luxembourg | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | ||
| Malta | 4 | 7 | 11 | 0 | ||
| Moldova | 10 | 8 | 18 | 10 | 10 | |
| Norway | 1 | 5 | 6 | 0 | ||
| Poland | 12 | 2 | 14 | 1 | 12 | 13 |
| Portugal | 12 | 12 | 3 | 10 | 13 | |
| Romania | 6 | 6 | 12 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| San Marino | 4 | 3 | 7 | 0 | ||
| Serbia | 4 | 4 | 8 | 0 | ||
| Ukraine | 10 | 5 | 15 | — | — | — |
| Finland | 12 | 12 | 4 | 4 | ||
| France | 4 | 12 | 16 | 6 | 6 | 12 |
| Croatia | 5 | 5 | 0 | |||
| Montenegro | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | ||
| Czech Republic | 2 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 12 | |
| Switzerland | 2 | 12 | 14 | 12 | 12 | |
| Sweden | 7 | 7 | 5 | 5 | ||
| Estonia | 1 | 1 | 8 | 8 | ||
| Rest of the world | 6 | 6 | 0 |
Results for Israel
Israel received 343 points: 123 points from the jury and 220 points from the audience.
- Moldova — 18 points to Israel
- Albania — 18 points to Israel
- Georgia — 16 points to Israel
- Azerbaijan — 16 points to Israel
- France — 16 points to Israel
- Ukraine — 15 points to Israel
- Austria — 15 points to Israel
- Germany — 15 points to Israel
Results for Ukraine
Ukraine received 221 points: 54 points from the jury and 167 points from the audience.
In the found text breakdown of the audience voting for Ukraine, 152 points out of 167 are detailed. The missing 15 points in the open list were not distributed by country, so they are not added to individual countries in the table above.
- Azerbaijan — 14 points to Ukraine
- Italy — 13 points to Ukraine
- Poland — 13 points to Ukraine
- Portugal — 13 points to Ukraine
- Georgia — 12 points to Ukraine
- Latvia — 12 points to Ukraine
- France — 12 points to Ukraine
- Czech Republic — 12 points to Ukraine
- Switzerland — 12 points to Ukraine
Ukraine and Israel: mutual voting
| Voting direction | Jury | Audience | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ukraine gave to Israel | 10 | 5 | 15 |
| Israel gave to Ukraine | 4 | 4 |
Result: Ukraine gave Israel 15 points, and Israel gave Ukraine 4 points. The difference was 11 points in favor of Israel.