Eurovision 2026: Israel Supporters Find a Home in Vienna

There’s a string of small Israeli flags hanging from the ceiling of MQ Kantine, a modern café tucked inside Vienna’s arty museums quarter. The menu has falafel, bagels with lox, and kosher wine. And standing just outside the front door, there’s a police officer.

This is what Eurovision looks like in 2026.

When Vienna officials unveiled their list of official “Eurofan Cafes” — coffee shops offering food and music from each competing country — Israel was initially left off entirely. MQ Kantine stepped in to fill the gap, and has since become an unofficial gathering place for Israeli supporters during the Eurovision Song Contest, which holds its grand final this Saturday at the Wiener Stadthalle arena.

Volunteers take turns monitoring outside for potential trouble. But so far, the mood has been warm. “It’s beautiful,” said Daniel Kapp, a PR consultant and pro-Israel campaigner, speaking from the café terrace where people sipped coffee and beer in the spring sunshine. He acknowledged, though, that the officer standing watch meant things were “not entirely normal.”

“My feeling is that Austria to a certain degree has learned from its history,” Kapp added, referencing the country’s devastating history of Nazi-era antisemitism. “Which is why the support for Israel is a lot more normal than it is in other countries.”

A Contest Pulled in Two Directions

Israel has been competing in Eurovision for more than 50 years and has won four times. But its presence at this year’s contest — held in Vienna after winning last year in Basel — has been deeply contested. The conflict in Gaza, which began after the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023 that killed 1,200 people, has cast a long shadow. More than 73,000 Palestinians have been killed since, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, whose records are broadly considered reliable by the international community. Israel has defended its military campaign as a necessary response to that attack, while a number of UN-commissioned experts have described the offensive as genocide — a claim Israel vigorously rejects.

The broader regional picture has only added to the pressure. The Israel-Hezbollah war in Lebanon and the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran have kept tensions running high heading into the weekend.

Five countries — Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and Spain — have pulled out of the 2026 contest after organizers allowed Israel to compete. Pro-Palestinian activists are planning a protest concert — part of several Eurovision alternative events happening across Europe this week — along with an anti-Israel march scheduled before Saturday’s final. The contest’s official slogan, “United by Music,” has rung notably hollow this year.

Inside the Wiener Stadthalle and at the Eurovision Village fan zone, the party atmosphere is very much alive. But getting through the door means navigating a ring of steel — searches, scanners, and a full ban on bags inside the arena. Armed police are a constant, visible presence on Vienna’s streets. Security awareness in the city has been heightened since a 21-year-old Austrian man pleaded guilty to plotting an ISIS-inspired attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna in 2024.

Noam Bettan Makes the Final

Israeli singer Noam Bettan told Israeli media that he prepared for his Eurovision moment the same way last year’s Israeli competitor Yuval Raphael did — by practicing while being booed. When he took the stage in Tuesday’s first semifinal, there were scattered shouts mixed in with the cheers. He made it through anyway, finishing in the top 10 of combined viewer and jury voting to secure his place in Saturday’s grand final. Organizers confirmed that four people were removed from the 10,000-strong crowd for disruptive behavior.

Israeli fan Oz Yona, attending his first-ever Eurovision, said he had experienced “no hate” in Vienna and felt the city took antisemitism seriously. He was glad to be there — just not especially confident about his country’s odds on Saturday. “I don’t think he will win,” Yona said of Bettan. “Finland is better this year. Greece is better this year. We have a good song, but not a winning song.”

Austrian fan Ivo Herzl, who attended the semifinal and called the vibe “incredibly positive,” has been channeling his support into something more tangible: he’s making and selling “Mazel Lov” T-shirts — a pun on the Hebrew and Yiddish phrase of congratulations. “Vienna has always been a city of tolerance,” he said. “It’s the city of music and we’ll always do everything possible for everyone to enjoy a musical event.”

“The Wounds Are Very Deep”

Not everyone feels the spirit of Eurovision has survived intact. Birgitta Peterson and Kristina Nilsson — a duo of Swedish superfans who travel together in matching pink bomber jackets and call themselves The Swedish Ladies — have been coming to Eurovision for years, drawn by what they describe as their global “Eurovision family.” This year, they say they plan to wave Israeli flags at the final, in part as a response to Swedish contestant Felicia’s earlier comments that she didn’t think Israel should be competing.

But they’re also grieving what the conflict has done to a fanbase once defined by its openness.

“The wounds are very deep at the moment,” said Nilsson. “This event should really be about ‘united by music’ and happiness. That’s what Eurovision is all about.”