Overview

• Yuval Raphael of Israel won the public televote but placed second overall in Eurovision 2025, sparking widespread concerns over voting integrity.
• Several European broadcasters, including RTÉ, RTVE, VRT, and YLE, have called for a recount or audit of the public vote, citing transparency issues.
• An investigation revealed Israeli government agencies and embassies ran social media campaigns encouraging repeated votes for Raphael, raising questions about Eurovision's voting rules.
• The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) defended its voting system as independently verified and highly advanced, while remaining open to discussions about reforms.
• Critics argue that Eurovision's televoting mechanism, which allows up to 20 votes per device, is vulnerable to manipulation and undermines the contest's apolitical stance.