Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006

Israel participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song "Together We Are One" written by Orly Burg, Osnat Zabag and Eddie Butler. The song was performed by Eddie Butler, who had previously represented Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1999 as part of the band Eden where they placed fifth with the song "Yom Huledet". The Israeli entry for the 2006 contest in Athens, Greece was selected through the national final Kdam Eurovision 2006, organised by the Israeli broadcaster Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA). The competition took place on 15 March 2006 and featured eleven entries. "Ze Hazman" performed by Eddie Butler emerged as the winner after achieving the highest score following the combination of votes from four regional juries and a public vote. The song title was later translated from Hebrew to English for the Eurovision Song Contest and was titled "Together We Are One".

As one of the ten highest placed finishers in the 2005 contest, Israel automatically qualified to compete in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest. Performing in position 3, Israel placed twenty-third out of the 24 participating countries with 4 points.

Background
Prior to the 2006 Contest, Israel had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest twenty-eight 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. Since the introduction of semi-finals to the format of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2004, Israel has, to this point, managed to qualify to the final one time, including a top ten result in 2005 with Shiri Maimon and "HaSheket SheNish'ar" placing fourth.

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 2006 on 5 December 2005. The Israeli entry in 2005 was selected through a national final with several entries, a selection procedure that continued to select the Israeli entry for 2006.

Kdam Eurovision 2006
The Israeli entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 was selected through Kdam Eurovision 2006, the national final format organised by IBA. The competition took place on 15 March 2006 at the Nakdi TV Studios in Jerusalem, hosted by Yael Bar Zohar and Eden Harel and was broadcast on Channel 1, via radio on Reshet Gimmel as well as online via IBA's official Eurovision Song Contest website Eurovil. The national final was watched by 246,000 viewers in Israel with a market share of 14.2%.

Competing entries
Thirteen artists were nominated by a professional committee with members from IBA and Network C to participate in the competition. The members of the committee were Yossi Meshulam, Izchak Sonnenschein, Amnon Shiloni, Menachem Granit, Nava Achiron, Noam Gil-Or and Yigal Ben David. The competing acts were announced on 15 December 2005 and among the artists was Eddie Butler who previously represented Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999 as part of the group Eden. Avi Greinik, Gabi Shushan, Maya Bouskilla, Rama Messinger and Uzi Fux with Cheri were later withdrawn from the competition and replaced with Avi Peretz, Svika Pick and Tzipi Mash'hid. The competing songs were presented prior to the competition during the Reshet Gimmel radio programme Aharon Ferera on 5 March 2006.

Final
The final took place on 15 March 2006. The winner, "Ze Hazman" performed by Eddie Butler, was selected by a combination of the votes from four regional juries and a public vote conducted through regional televoting, SMS voting and the studio audience. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the interval acts featured Israeli Eurovision 2005 entrant Shiri Maimon performed her newest song "Le'an Shelo Telhi", and all competing artists performing a medley of former Israeli Eurovision or Kdam Eurovision songs written by Ehud Manor who died in 2005.

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 2005 contest are required to qualify from the semi-final in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from the semi-final progress to the final. As one of the ten highest placed finishers in the 2005 contest, Israel automatically qualified to compete in the final on 20 May 2006. In addition to their participation in the final, Israel is also required to broadcast and vote in the semi-final on 18 May 2006. On 21 March 2006, an allocation draw was held which determined the running order and Israel was set to perform in position 3 during the final, following the entry from Moldova and before the entry from Latvia. Israel placed twenty-third in the final, scoring 4 points.

In Israel, both the semi-final and the final 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 Russia in the semi-final and the final of the contest.