Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday lavished praise on his country's candidate for the Eurovision Song Contest.
The 20-year-old Eden Updated with photos
was met with some hostility in the Swedish city of Malmö, where the final of the competition took place on Saturday. Protests against Israel's participation because of the Gaza war overshadowed the usual party atmosphere this year.
During the performance of her song "Hurricane" - which echoes unspoken grief over the killings of civilians in Israel by the Palestinian militant organization Hamas on October 7 - Golan endured whistles and boos. In the end, the Israeli singer came fifth.
Netanyahu spoke to Golan by phone on Sunday and told her, "What a success, what an honour, this is something great - well done!" In a play on words, the prime minister said, "They shouted boos, we shouted douze - douze points [French for the maximum 12 points awarded by each country's voting jury]."
He told the young singer that the important thing was that she had almost got the highest score in the TV audience vote. "That's the important thing - not the juries."
If only the European TV audience had determined the winner, Croatia would have won just ahead of Israel, with 337 versus 323 points.
Despite the haters, Golan had "conquered Europe," said Netanyahu.
The visibly exhausted singer said that she first had to digest the many unforgettable experiences. "[I felt] proud and honoured to have represented our country at such a time," she said.
She dedicated her participation and the song to the hostages held hostage by Hamas. "I keep bursting into tears."
