Israel's Eurovision result prompts questions over voting

Israel's success in the public vote at last weekend's Eurovision Song Contest has prompted calls from a string of countries to examine the results and voting system.

Singer Yuval Raphael came top of the viewer vote on Saturday with her ballad New Day Will Rise, but finished second overall to Austria when jury scores were also taken into account.

Broadcasters in Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Iceland and Finland have since raised concerns or questions about the public vote, with some requesting an audit.

Eurovision organisers the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) said the vote had been independently checked and verified, that they took any concerns seriously.

Israel was ranked joint 14th by the national juries, but shot up the leaderboard thanks to the results of the phone and online vote.

Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom were among the countries whose viewers awarded Israel the maximum 12 points, with Ireland and Finland giving 10.

Irish broadcaster RTE has asked for a full breakdown of the voting from organisers.

That came after Spanish broadcaster RTVE said it would request an investigation of the results and a review of the televoting system.

Viewers can currently vote up to 20 times each by phone, text or app.

Katia Segers, a Flemish MP, said: "A system in which everyone can cast up to 20 votes is a system that encourages manipulation.

"Whether this manipulation occurred in our country and all other participating and non-participating countries must be investigated."

A spokesperson for Flemish public broadcaster VRT said: "We have no indication that the counting of the televotes wasn't carried out correctly, but we are asking for complete transparency on the part of the EBU.

"The question is above all whether the current system guarantees a fair reflection of the opinion of viewers and listeners."

Finland's YLE said: "We will definitely ask the EBU whether it is time to update these rules or at least examine whether the current rules allow for abuses."

On Tuesday, Dutch public broadcasters Avrotros and NPO issued a statement saying the contest was "increasingly influenced by societal and geopolitical tensions".

Israel's involvement "raises the question of whether Eurovision still truly functions as an apolitical, unifying, and cultural event", they said.

In response, the contest's director Martin Green said organisers were "in constant contact with all participating broadcasters" and "take their concerns seriously".

"We can confirm that we have been in touch with several broadcasters since Saturday's Grand Final regarding voting in the competition," he continued.

There will now be a "broad discussion" with participating broadcasters "to reflect and obtain feedback on all aspects of this year's event", he said.

"It is important to emphasise that the voting operation for the Eurovision Song Contest is the most advanced in the world and each country's result is checked and verified by a huge team of people to exclude any suspicious or irregular voting patterns.

"An independent compliance monitor reviews both jury and public vote data to ensure we have a valid result.

"Our voting partner Once has confirmed that a valid vote was recorded in all countries participating in this year's Grand Final and in the Rest of the World."

Eurovision News, which is operated by the EBU, said an agency of the Israeli government paid for adverts and used state social media accounts to encourage people to vote for the Israeli entry.

Mr Green said that did not break the rules.