The
Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA) was a member of the
European Broadcasting Union (EBU), making it eligible to participate in the
Eurovision Song Contest. It had participated in the contest, representing Israel, since the in 1973. In 2017, the IBA was succeeded by the
Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC/), which has been responsible for Israel's participation in the contest since the following year. To date, there have been four Israeli victories in the contest.
Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta won in Paris in with "
A-Ba-Ni-Bi". On home ground in
Jerusalem , Israel won again, this time with "
Hallelujah" performed by
Milk and Honey. Unusually, Israel did not defend the title in (see below). The third victory came almost 20 years later in
Birmingham in , when
Dana International took top honours with the song "
Diva". It took a 20-year wait for Israel to record its fourth victory at the in
Lisbon, with the song "
Toy" by
Netta, earning Israel its highest-ever score of 529 points. Israel's earliest selections were picked by the IBA. The first singer to represent the country was
Ilanit, who finished 4th in . In 1972, while
Ilanit was in Germany recording as part of the duo Ilan and Ilanit with her partner Shlomo Tzach, the duo received an offer to represent in . Since Israel was eligible to participate, they approached the IBA with a proposal that Ilanit would represent Israel. However, the registration period was over by then and Ilanit was told she could represent Israel in 1973. After she was sent again four years later, it was decided that henceforth the winner of the Hebrew Song Festival would represent Israel. The 1978 and 1979 Israeli Eurovision winners were selected by this method. From 1981, the selection process took place via the with the exception of 1990, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2002, when the IBA selected its representatives internally. After winning the contest in 1978 and 1979, the IBA was financially and logistically unable to organise the event for a second consecutive year. The Netherlands agreed to host the 1980 contest in Israel's place. The date chosen for that year's contest coincided with
Yom HaZikaron, Israeli Memorial Day, so Israel could not compete. This made Israel the only country to date unable to defend its title. The 1980 winning song "Pizmon Chozer" by
The Brothers & the Sisters never had an opportunity to compete. In 1984, Israel again refrained from participating due to the same date conflict. It was rumoured that Ilanit and the song "Balalaika" would have been its representative that year, but this was denied by Shlomo Zach, the producer of the song. Israel's entries have had a mixed reception.
Avi Toledano () and
Ofra Haza () scored well with big revivalist numbers, but the all-singing, all-dancing style became less popular later in the decade and Israel's entry, "
Yavo Yom" by
Moti Giladi and Sarai Tzuriel, came in 19th. In , Israel finished 8th with "
Shir Habatlanim" by the satiric duo Lazy Bums. Then-Israeli Minister of Culture,
Yitzhak Navon, said he would resign if the song went on to represent Israel at the contest; this ultimately did not occur. In ,
Rita's "" was not well received, but in ,
Orna and Moshe Datz finished third, Israel's best result since 1983. Israel also had a 5th-place finish by
Eden when it hosted the .
Ping-Pong's disco effort in failed, though the group was noted for their optimistic lyrics and message of reconciliation and peace. They waved
Syrian flags at the end of their performance, angering some Israelis. In ,
David D'Or came 11th in the semi-final with "", leaving Israel out of the final for the first time since 1997.
Shiri Maimon with "" in brought Israel back to the top five, and ensured Israel a place in the final, where it was represented by singer
Eddie Butler, who had finished 5th as part of Eden in 1999; however, his performance of the song "Together We Are One" finished 23rd, with only four points. IBA's Eurovision committee chose
Teapacks to represent Israel in . Their humorous entry "
Push the Button" finished 24th out of 28 in the semi-final and did not advance to the final. As a result, Israel had to compete in the semi-final, from which it advanzed to the final, where
Boaz and "The Fire in Your Eyes" finished ninth. In , for the first time, an Arab citizen of Israel represented the country:
Mira Awad performed "There Must Be Another Way" alongside Jewish-Israeli singer
Noa in Moscow. Israel was represented in 2010 by
Harel Skaat, who came 14th in the final with "
Milim". Israel's participations from 2011 to 2014 were less successful, as former Eurovision winner
Dana International in
Düsseldorf, the band
Izabo in
Baku,
Moran Mazor in
Malmö, and
Mei Finegold in
Copenhagen all failed to qualify for the final. The 2014 non-qualification led to Kdam Eurovision being discontinued, and the IBA later partnered with
Keshet to use the existing reality singing competition '''' to select the Israeli artist—a method that has mostly continued since—though the song selection has gone through various formats. In 2015,
Nadav Guedj brought Israel back to the final with "
Golden Boy", the first Israeli entry without a Hebrew lyric. Before Netta's win, Israel also managed to qualify in 2016 with
Hovi Star and "
Made of Stars", which finished 14th, and in 2017 with
Imri Ziv and "
I Feel Alive", which finished 23rd. In 2019, as hosts with
Kobi Marimi and his song "
Home", Israel was pre-qualified for the final and finished 23rd, making it the fourth time since 2015 that the host country ranked in the bottom five. In 2020,
Eden Alene was chosen to represent the country with "
Feker Libi". After the 2020 contest was cancelled, she was retained as the Israeli representative for , this time with "
Set Me Free", which finished 17th in the final. The song features a
B6 whistle note, the highest note in the contest's history.
Michael Ben David, selected through
The X Factor Israel, represented Israel in 2022 with "
I.M," but failed to qualify for the final. Internally-selected
Noa Kirel finished third in 2023 with "
Unicorn",
Eden Golan placed fifth in 2024 with "
Hurricane", and
Yuval Raphael finished second in 2025 with "
New Day Will Rise". == Participation overview ==