Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2000

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On 6 January 2000, IBA announced that the group PingPong was selected as its representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2000 with the song "Sameach". "Sameach" was written by group members Roy Arad and Guy Assif, and was chosen from 83 submissions by a special committee consisting of Irit Linur (radio entertainer and writer), Izhar Cohen (Eurovision Song Contest 1978 winner and 1985 Israeli Eurovision entrant), Amos Oren (journalist), Gal Uchovsky (journalist), Itzik Yehoshua (journalist), Amir Kaminer (journalist), Yoav Ginai (composer), Menashe Lev-Ran (musician), Svetlana Alecsandrov (IBA representative) and Adi Hadar (IBA representative).

The announcement of PingPong as the Israeli entrant caused controversy in the country. Composer Avihu Medina expressed his disapproval on "Sameach" describing it as "a national disgrace", while committee member Yoav Ginai described it as "a nostalgic song with a crazy beat which makes you smile" and Irit Linur stated: "It is a very stupid song but I like it, and there's no need to search for a special meaning in it. Some of us liked it and some went to throw up after we heard it. It is a worthy song. We are not fighting to save the future of Israel here". When Linur was asked whether she thought PingPong stood a chance, she replied: "Who cares?" Despite the mixed reactions, "Sameach" managed to top the Israeli charts the week before the contest.^[2]

According to Eurovision rules, the 24-country participant list for the contest was composed of: the previous year's winning country and host nation Sweden, "Big Four" countries, the thirteen countries, which had obtained the highest average points total over the preceding five contests, and any eligible countries which did not compete in the 1999 contest.^[3] An allocation draw was held which determined the running order and Israel was set to open the show and perform in position 1, before the entry from the Netherlands. Israel finished in twenty-second place with 7 points.^[4]

At the end of the Israeli performance, the members of PingPong waved plastic flags of Israel and Syria. Eytan Fox, who choreographed the performance, stated: "The song is about love and peace so we thought it would be a good idea to use Syrian and Israeli flags, because we would like to have peace with Arab countries. We represent a new kind of Israeli who wants to be normal and have peace. We want to have fun and not go to war, but the right wing is not happy about that message".^[2] PingPong's decision to wave Syrian flags on stage enraged the Israeli public and the IBA; the broadcaster earlier threatened the group that they would have to bear all travel expenses themselves if they insisted on the action.^[5] The Knesset's Education Committee held a meeting regarding the incident in the weeks after the contest, concluding that PingPong's participation was "a disgrace and a shame to the State of Israel, the Broadcasting Authority and Israeli culture" and that the group were "a band of crooks who misled us in an act of fraud." They also declared that only the public would be responsible for selecting the Israeli entries in the future.^[6] A member of IBA, Gil Samsonov, stated that legal actions would be sought against PingPong for their actions.^[7]

In Israel, the show was televised live on Channel 1.^{[citation needed]}

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Israel and awarded by Israel in the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Denmark in the contest.^[8]

IBA appointed Yoav Ginai as its spokesperson to announce the Israeli votes during the show.^{[citation needed]}

Points awarded to Israel[8] Score Country 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points  France 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point  Macedonia

Points awarded by Israel[8] Score Country 12 points  Denmark 10 points  Russia 8 points  Netherlands 7 points  Norway 6 points  Estonia 5 points  Iceland 4 points  Latvia 3 points  Malta 2 points  Ireland 1 point  United Kingdom