"You can't ban personal stories from the game," she told NBC News in a Zoom interview earlier this month. "So you really get two," she said, "a talented singer performed "an ancient French Chanson" and paired with a story that shows that the song is actually about "personal trauma and national trauma, and how you show up from it."
But, just as Israel participates in various European sports leagues, its inclusion of it in European sports is an example of Middle Eastern countries seeing themselves as part of European cultural communities, the idea that the press is “part of Israeli society’s imagination.”
On Wednesday night, in central Basel, about 200 protesters demanded that Israel be expelled from Eurovision and end the Israeli offensive in Gaza. According to the Associated Press, the crowd wore Palestinian flags and silencedly rang along the streets.
For many critics, Israel’s inclusion in Eurovision was linked to acceptance of its military campaign, which prompted the International Criminal Court to sentence Israeli leaders to “violate human and war crimes” to warrants, which Israel denies.
Those pushing the country to be kicked out of the game — like Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, including former participants, with more than 70 of them signing a joint letter earlier this month.
"European TV is finally a happy moment in Switzerland, but that's not the case," protester Lea Kobler from Basel Zurich told the Associated Press. “How do we correctly exclude Russia, but we still welcome Israel?”
Participation in Eurovision has long been pushing the geographical boundaries of Europe itself. The competition started in 1956 from seven countries, but it has expanded greatly and now includes not only Israel, but also countries such as Georgia, Azerbaijan and even Australia.
On the brink of the festival last year in Malmö, Sweden, protested against Israel’s participation fanaticism. Police were stranded with pro-Palestinian protesters who tried to get themselves to hear their voices in pop music outside the stadium while fans lined up to enter.
This year in Basel, demonstrators were very evident at the opening ceremony of the game, with large Palestinian flags waving among the crowd. There was some booing as Raphael walked up the carpet, and Israel’s X account posted a video in which a pro-Palestine protester made a throat gesture on the Israeli delegation.
"State police are aware of the incident and will submit a report for the responsible prosecution authorities," Basel Police spokesman Brigitte Vogel told NBC News in an emailed statement.
"By continuing to represent the platform Israeli state, the EBU is normalizing and painting its crimes," the letter reads. "The EBU has proven it can take steps, just like when expelling Russia from its competitors in 2022. We do not accept this double standard about Israel."
Some participating national broadcasters, including those in Spain, Iceland and Slovenia, also questioned whether Israel should participate. Senior leaders of Irish broadcaster RTé met with EBU last week to raise their own concerns.
"All members will continue to be heard. As we did in 2024, we will have a wider discussion as the competition ends with all participating broadcasters to reflect on various aspects of this year's event," EBU said in an emailed statement.
More protests are expected when Israel competes in the semifinals on Thursday.
News - Barnathan said participating in criticism is a way for Israel to fight against its critics. “It’s a fight against criticism, legalization and all of that stuff,” she said, for family viewers, it’s a kind of saying, “We’re still here. You know, we’re not going to go anything.”
Meanwhile, the Swiss hosts may just hope they refuse to support, and the game is not too controversial.