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At an event as part of the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) in Basel, Switzerland, there was an incident that alerted the Israeli delegation.
A propalestinian demonstrator showed a gesture interpreted as a threat of murder in the direction of the Israeli ESC candidate Yuval Raphael. Israel’s public broadcasting institution Kan then filed a complaint with the Swiss police, as the “Spiegel” reports.
Threatened and spit
In a video of the transmitter that is shared on X, which transmits the ESC, the demonstrator is said to have indicated a threat with the following gestures: he drove over his neck with his hand – i.e. as an indication of the throat. Before that, he showed a thumb down. He is also said to have spit in the direction of the Israeli delegation.
The Swiss police confirmed the receipt of the complaint by Kan, but has so far not been clearly able to determine who the gesture actually applied. Israel interprets it as a threat to her own candidate, Yuval Raphael.
24-year-old Yuval Raphael, who represents Israel at the ESC 2025, is the survivor of the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, in which terrorists from the Gaza strip carried out a massacre at the Nova Music Festival near the Israeli border. Raphael was among the festival visitors: inside, but was able to escape unharmed. The traumatic experiences shaped the singer and flowed into her musical work, which she now presented on the ESC stage.
Reactions and other measures
According to the Hebrew -speaking news page “Ynet”, dozens gathered to protest against Raphael’s participation in the ESC. The video published by Kan shows several anti -Israeli demonstrators at the event. The broadcaster also turned to the European Radio Union (EBU) to receive support in identifying the demonstrator. The EBU is expected to express itself promptly.
The incident occurred during the opening parade of the ESC in Basel, in which the participating artists in the city went over a turquoise carpet. The security measures for the Israeli delegation were increased after the incident.
Requirements for the exclusion of Israel
The protests against Israel’s participation in the ESC are not new. There had been similar demonstrations as early as 2024 when Israel took part in the competition despite the tense situation in the Gaza Strip. This year, too, 70 former ESC participants spoke out for themselves: inside and last year’s winner Nemo for the exclusion of Israel. They justify the demands with Israel’s approach in the war against Gaza, which is led to the Hamas attacks in October 2023 in response to the Hamas attacks.
Participation in Israel in the ESC again controversial this year
The participation of Israel in the ESC will remain the biggest point of dispute in the competition in 2025. An open letter has recently been published, signed by more than 70 former ESC participants: inside, which require the exclusion of Israel and Israeli public service broadcaster Kan. In the letter, Kan is directly referred to as “complicit in the Israeli genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza as well as in the decades of apartheid regime and the military occupation”. The signatories: Inside, argue that the ESC is not only a cultural event, but also a political forum in which such human rights issues would have to be taken into account.
The EBU rejected the allegations against Israel’s participation in the ESC. ESC director Martin Green told “The Independent” that the worries about the Middle East conflict to understand, but at the same time underlined that the EBU is undertaken to maintain the ESC as a platform for diversity and integration. Green also explained that the Israeli broadcaster can continue to support and do not see the competition as a political stage.