Israel's Eurovision story: How a Middle Eastern country crashed Europe's biggest party (Part 1)

Why does Israel compete in Eurovision if it's not even in Europe? In Part 1, Noam Weissman unpacks how Israel went from Eurovision newcomer to music powerhouse, exploring the songs, stars, and surprising moments that put the Jewish state on Europe's biggest stage. It's a story of glitter, geopolitics, and Israeli identity. And the biggest Eurovision moment was still to come.

Unpacking Israeli History is hosted by Noam Weissman. It's produced by Rivky Stern. This episode was written by Adi Elbaz and edited by Rob Pera.

Special thanks to Tzvi Joffre for researching the episode.

Click ⁠here ⁠ for links and sources:

Link to Munich Olympics: When terrorism won (mentioned in the episode).

Links and sources:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ndVmuFXPBltSDIId47xG_1sRajQ3iMnThBmOyUdrBAo/edit?usp=sharing

This episode is sponsored by Friedkin Philanthropies and the Koret Foundation, and is inspired by ISRAEL 21c If you want to sponsor an episode of Unpacking Israeli History, or if you just want to say what’s up, email noam@unpacked.media.

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