Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005

Israel participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 with the song "HaSheket SheNish'ar" written by Pini Aaronbayev, Eyal Shachar and Ben Green. The song was performed by Shiri Maimon. The Israeli entry for the 2005 contest in Kyiv, Ukraine was selected through the national final Kdam Eurovision 2005, organised by the Israeli broadcaster Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA). The competition took place on 2 March 2005 and featured fourteen entries. "HaSheket SheNish'ar" performed by Shiri Maimon emerged as the winner after gaining the most points following the combination of votes from five regional juries and a regional televote.

Israel competed in the semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 19 May 2005. Performing during the show in position 7, "Hasheket shenish'ar" was announced among the top 10 entries of the semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 21 May. It was later revealed that Israel placed seventh out of the 25 participating countries in the semi-final with 158 points. In the final, Israel performed in position 11 and placed fourth out of the 24 participating countries, scoring 154 points.

Background
Prior to the 2004 contest, Israel had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest twenty-six times since its first entry in 1973. Israel has won the contest on three occasions: in 1978 with the song "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" performed by Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta, in 1979 with the song "Hallelujah" performed by Milk and Honey and in 1998 with the song "Diva" performed by Dana International. Their 2003 entry "Words for Love" performed by Lior Narkis placed nineteenth.

The Israeli national broadcaster, Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA) had been in charge of the nation's participation in the contest since its debut in 1973. IBA confirmed Israel's participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 on 20 September 2004. To select the Israeli entry for 2005, IBA opted to organise a national final with several entries. The competition was planned to feature a new format with four shows taking place in different cities across Israel, however, only one final was ultimately held.

Kdam Eurovision 2005
The Israeli entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 was selected through Kdam Eurovision 2005, the national final format organised by IBA. The competition took place on 2 March 2005 at the Neve Ilan TV Studios in Jerusalem, hosted by Moran Atias and Didi Harrari and was broadcast on Channel 1 as well as online via iba.org.il/eurovil. The national final was watched by 376,000 viewers in Israel with a market share of 22.1%.

Competing entries
IBA directly invited fourteen artists to participate in the competition. Thirteen of the competing acts were announced on 26 December 2004, while the fourteenth act, the Elayev Family, was announced on 14 January 2005. The artists were required to submit their entries by the deadline on 31 January 2005, and the songs were presented prior to the competition during a special radio programme on Reshet Gimmel on 15 February 2005.

Final
The final took place on 2 March 2005. The winner, "Hasheket shenish'ar" performed by Shiri Maimon, was selected by a 50/50 combination of votes from five regional juries and a regional televote. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, show host Moran Atias together with Sassi Keshet and the Jerusalem Boys Choir performed as the opening act, while Harel Skaat, Israeli Eurovision Song Contest 1978 winner Izhar Cohen and Ukrainian Eurovision Song Contest 2004 winner Ruslana performed as the interval acts.

At Eurovision
According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country, the "Big Four" (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom), and the ten highest placed finishers in the 2004 contest are required to qualify from the semi-final on 19 May 2005 in order to compete for the final on 21 May 2005; the top ten countries from the semi-final progress to the final. On 22 March 2005, an allocation draw was held which determined the running order for the semi-final and Israel was set to perform in position 7, following the entry from Monaco and before the entry from Belarus. At the end of the semi-final, Israel was announced as having finished in the top 10 and subsequently qualifying for the grand final. It was later revealed that Israel placed seventh in the semi-final, receiving a total of 158 points. The draw for the running order for the final was done by the presenters during the announcement of the ten qualifying countries during the semi-final and Israel was drawn to perform in position 11, following the entry from Spain and before the entry from Serbia and Montenegro. Israel placed fourth in the final, scoring 154 points.

The semi-final received a market share of 22.5% in Israel with a peak of 31.1%, while the final received a market share of 39.5% in Israel with a peak of 47.9%. Both shows were televised live on Channel 1. The Israeli spokesperson, who announced the Israeli votes during the final, was Dana Herman.

Voting
Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Israel and awarded by Israel in the semi-final and grand final of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Romania in the semi-final and the final of the contest.