Australian Lawmaker Questions SBS Over Zero Eurovision Points for Israel’s Noam Bettan

Eurovision Hearing

Australian Senator Sarah Henderson summoned Australia’s public broadcaster SBS to a Senate hearing and demanded answers over why Israel and Noam Bettan received no points from Australia’s Eurovision jury panel.

“Israel received enormous support from audiences at home around the world,” Henderson said. “The fact that Australia was the only country to give Israel zero points raises serious questions about the selection process for our judges and their possible bias.”

Standout Performance

Bettan’s result made the Australian jury vote especially striking. Israel finished in second place overall at Eurovision, with Bettan delivering one of the competition’s standout performances and drawing major support from viewers around the world.

That strong public response sharpened questions over how Australia’s professional jury reached a result that gave Israel no points at all, despite the country’s broader success in the competition.

Questions Over Jury Selection

SBS representatives did not provide immediate answers during the hearing, but said they would submit detailed written explanations to the committee regarding the composition of the jury and its decision-making process.

The network clarified, however, that it is responsible only for selecting the seven members of the local jury panel. According to SBS, the public vote is managed and supervised directly by the European Broadcasting Union and is not under the broadcaster’s authority.