Israel's Eurovision result raises questions about voting

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

Singer Yuval Raphael came out on top in the viewers' vote on Saturday with her ballad "New Day Will Rise", but finished second overall behind Austria when the jury's results were also taken into account, writes the BBC . 

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

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

Israel was ranked 14th by national juries, but rose in the rankings thanks to the results of telephone and online voting.

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

Irish broadcaster RTE has called for a complete breakdown of the vote from the organisers.

This came after Spanish broadcaster RTVE said it would demand an investigation into the results and a review of the televoting system.

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

"If this manipulation has occurred in our country and in all other participating and non-participating countries, it should be investigated."

Political tensions
A spokesman for Flemish public broadcaster VRT said: "We have no indication that the counting of televotes was not carried out correctly, but we are demanding full transparency from the EBU.

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

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

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