Yuval Raphael, Israel’s contestant, finished in second place at the 69th Eurovision Song Contest in Basel, Switzerland on Thursday night. It was a triumph for Israel, in a year when there were countless calls to have Israel banned,

Security stopped two protesters from reaching Israel’s entrant as paint was thrown at a crew member before their arrest at the Grand Final in Basel, Switzerland.

Israel’s Yuval Raphael finished in second place overall at the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest in Basel, Switzerland, and first in the public vote, as Austria’s JJ took the overall win at the annual competition.