Israel will select its Eurovision 2026 artist via “The Rising Star For Eurovision 2026” (“Hakohav Haba Shel Israel La’Eurovision 2026”).
According to Keshet 12, the first episode will air on Tuesday, November 11th, 2025.
The first weeks of the contest will feature auditions.
Later on, the team will be selected.
Assi Azar and Rotem Sela will host the show for the 11th time in a row.
The jury panel will feature: Keren Peles, Shiri Maimon, Assaf Amdursky, Eden Hasson, and Itay Levy.
Ran Danker, who was part of the jury last year, won’t play a role this time.
Israeli national broadcaster Kan will collaborate with the commercial channel Keshet 12 for the 9th year on the Eurovision project.
As in the past (2015-2020, and 2023-2025), the Israeli artist for Eurovision will be selected via “Hakochav Haba La’Eurovision” (Eng: The Rising Star For Eurovision).
The Eurovision entry is likely to be selected internally.
Keshet 12 aims to select the artist by February 2026.
Kan announced:
The Israeli representative for Eurovision 2026 in Vienna will be chosen as part of Keshet 12’s “The Next Star for Eurovision” program. We have collaborated with Keshet in the past for 9 seasons, in all of which Israel managed to qualify for the Eurovision final and even bring the competition home.
Over the years, Israel has achieved notable scores in Eurovision, while selecting the artist via “The Rising Star”:
- 9 out of 9 appearances in the grand final.
- Top 10 in 2015, 2018, 2024, and 2025
- Top 5 in 2018, 2024, and 2025
- Winning the contest (in 2018)
Yuval Raphael represented Israel in Eurovision 2025
She performed “New Day Will Rise” and ended in 2nd place.
Eurovision 2026 will be held in Vienna, Austria, on May 12th, 14th, and 16th, 2026.
