Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 1978

Hirsh and Manor had initially intended for "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" (with a chorus in the Bet language, the Hebrew equivalent of Pig Latin) to compete in the IBA Children's Song Festival, but the duo realized that the song had potential for Eurovision success, leading them to submit it to the IBA's Eurovision selection committee and eventually win the pre-selection.^{[citation needed]} Hirsh conducted the orchestra (as she had also done for Israel's debut in 1973), making her one of only three female conductors in the contest's history (alongside Sweden's Monica Dominique in 1973 and Switzerland's Anita Kerr in 1985), as well as choreographed the group's dance moves.^{[citation needed]} On the night of the contest, Israel performed eighteenth, following Luxembourg and preceding Austria. Israel wound up becoming runaway winners, scoring eight points or higher from eleven of the nineteen countries that had the ability to vote for them and six sets of the maximum twelve points. Only one country (Sweden) failed to award the Israeli entry any points at all. They finished thirty-two points clear of Belgium and ensured that the contest would be held in Israel for the first time the following year.^[1] It was succeeded both as winner and as the Israeli representative by Milk and Honey with "Hallelujah".^{[citation needed]} Israel reciprocated the Netherlands' 12 points, awarding Harmony and "'t Is OK" their sole twelve points.^[2]

The 1978 contest was transmitted by a number of broadcasters from countries that didn't acknowledge the State of Israel, including several Arab countries (such as Algeria, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates). Many chose to cut to a commercial during the Israeli performance, and when it became clear Israel was going to win, they ended their broadcasts early.^[3] Jordan Television (JTV) closed the show by broadcasting photos of flowers, and later announced that runner-up Belgium were the winners instead. The story goes that since the Israeli broadcaster didn't buy enough airtime and those watching through neighboring broadcasters like JTV never saw the end of the voting, many Israelis had no idea they had won until the following morning.^{[citation needed]}

Points awarded to Israel[2] Score Country 12 points  Belgium  Germany  Luxembourg  Netherlands   Switzerland  Turkey 10 points  Finland  Portugal 8 points  Austria  France  Ireland  Italy  Norway 7 points 6 points  Denmark  Spain 5 points  Greece  United Kingdom 4 points 3 points  Monaco 2 points 1 point

Points awarded by Israel[2] Score Country 12 points  Netherlands 10 points  Greece 8 points  Monaco 7 points  Belgium 6 points  Spain 5 points  France 4 points  Denmark 3 points  Germany 2 points  United Kingdom 1 point   Switzerland

Izhar Cohen would go on to participate in the Israeli national final in 1982, 1985, 1987, and 1996. 1985 would prove successful, as he won the pre-selection and represented Israel with the song "Olé, Olé" and finished in fifth place.