Amal Congratulates Noam Bettan for his Remarkable Eurovision Score

Israel’s remarkable second-place finish at this year’s 70th Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna is a source of deep pride for Amal Educational Network and for the State of Israel as a whole. In a year marked by public calls to exclude Israel from the competition and organized protests outside the arena, Noam Bettan stepped onto the Eurovision stage with grace and quiet strength, and let his performance speak for itself.

Singing “Michelle,” a vibrant trilingual pop song in Hebrew, French and English, he delivered two flawless performances in the semifinal and the grand final, winning over millions of viewers and securing Israel another prestigious second-place result. Coming on the heels of Israel’s second-place achievement in 2025, and after back‑to‑back third‑place results in 2023 and 2024, this consistent excellence places Israel firmly among the contest’s leading creative powers, and reminds our friends and partners abroad that Israel continues to create, innovate and inspire, even when global media narratives focus almost exclusively on conflict and crisis.

Since Israel’s very first Eurovision appearance in 1973 with Ilanit’s song “Ey Sham,” participation in this European cultural event has carried a special meaning. For a small country situated geographically outside Europe, joining a major European stage signaled a desire to belong to a progressive, forward‑looking community of nations. Over the past five decades, Israel has earned a reputation as a true “Eurovision powerhouse,” with four first‑place victories, four second‑place finishes and frequent appearances in the top ranks, even as the competition expanded from just 7 participating countries in 1956 to around 40 today. On the Eurovision stage, Israel has consistently used music, staging and storytelling to present a vision of a normal, modern country striving for quality of life, creativity and human connection.

This cultural dimension has become even more significant in the years since October 7, 2023. In that time, some governments, broadcasters and artists have argued that Israel should be removed from the contest, and several countries chose to boycott this year’s event in protest. Yet the European Broadcasting Union maintained Israel’s place, affirming that Eurovision is a platform for public broadcasters and artists rather than an arena for punishing nations. Against this backdrop, Noam Bettan, the Israeli‑born son of French immigrants, with eight years of stage experience, carried the weight of representing Israel in Europe in 2026 with calm and dignity.

“Michelle,” written by a creative team that includes Yuval Raphael, a survivor of the Nova music festival massacre and Israel’s 2025 Eurovision representative, is a catchy, up‑tempo song about a toxic relationship and the courage to walk away. Its lyrics, choreography and staging signal something simple yet powerful: that Israelis are still living their lives, dreaming, loving and dancing, even after nearly three years of war.

The recent Eurovision slogan: “United by Music,” captures values that resonate deeply with us at Amal. Each year, the contest brings together about forty countries, celebrating diversity, mutual respect and the shared joy of cultural expression under a common European framework of democratic and liberal ideals. Bettan himself embodies many of these values: an observant young man from Ra’anana, photographed in Vienna making Kiddush on Friday night, and at the same time a stylish Tel Aviv‑style performer, standing tall under pressure, indifferent to scattered boos and focused on giving “100% in real time” for the audience at home and in the hall. In a similar way, Amal Educational Network strives to unite its diverse community of Jewish and Arab, secular and religious, veteran Israelis and new immigrants from the center and the periphery, around a shared belief in dignity, equality and opportunity for all. As Eurovision has managed for seventy years to build bridges across borders and differences, we at Amal are working every day to build bridges within Israeli society, equipping our students to be engaged, open‑minded citizens who feel connected both to their local communities and to the wider family of nations.