Israeli singer Yuval Rafael’s achievement of second place at the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest has sparked substantial interest and congratulations from unexpected parts of the Middle East, notably from the Iranian opposition. This notable show of appreciation, visible across social media and in public statements from Iranian dissidents, offers rare insight into shifting patterns of regional solidarity, especially as Iran’s clerical regime continues to pursue policies of confrontation and proxy conflict against Israel and its Western allies.
The Eurovision Song Contest, established in 1956 and renowned for its embrace of diversity and merit-based competition, symbolizes the cultural values championed by open societies. Israel, a consistent participant since 1973, has frequently leveraged such international stages to project its identity as a creative, pluralistic democracy. Iran, by contrast, has for decades pursued a foreign policy explicitly defined by opposition to Israel, both rhetorically and through support for proxy militias such as Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis. This context underscores the significance of the Iranian opposition’s vocal celebration of Rafael’s achievement, which directly challenges the anti-Israel narrative propagated by the Islamic Republic.
The surge of support for Rafael resonates in the wider environment of civic unrest inside Iran, notably since the 2022–2023 nationwide protests following the death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman killed in police custody. These demonstrations have revealed broad societal discontent with the regime’s repressive policies and costly foreign entanglements, which have drawn resources away from domestic needs. Independent surveys by groups such as the Group for Analyzing and Measuring Attitudes in Iran (GAMAAN) and assessments by Western governments confirm that significant portions of Iran’s population reject both the regime’s domestic repression and its militaristic regional strategy. Public support for Israeli artists is thus less a fleeting pop culture phenomenon and more a coded signal of dissent and a desire for cultural freedom, a sentiment echoed in analytical reports from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and the Atlantic Council.
Prominent Iranian dissidents, including members of the diaspora in the United States and Europe, utilized digital platforms to share artwork, congratulatory messages, and commentary on Rafael’s Eurovision performance. The outpouring was especially notable given the risks Iranian nationals face for even minimal engagement with Israeli figures, as the regime continues to criminalize normalization efforts and maintains stiff penalties for expressions of sympathy toward the Jewish state. Analysis from the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) and reporting by BBC Persian confirm a growing trend: civilian Iranian voices challenging their government’s longstanding policies and reaching out, virtually or symbolically, to Israel.
The Iranian government’s fixation on Israel as an existential enemy is primarily enforced by its elite security apparatus, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The IRGC—a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization—operates a transnational network of proxies and supplies groups inimical to Israel throughout the region. This has led to cycles of violence in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and most recently and destructively in Gaza, where Hamas launched the October 7, 2023 attack against Israel that marked the deadliest antisemitic atrocity since the Holocaust. In response, Israel, under the leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz, and IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, has described its campaigns as necessary acts of self-defense, justified under international law to protect its citizens against a terror infrastructure financed and directed from Tehran.
Against this backdrop, the decision by Iranian opposition activists to openly celebrate Rafael’s Eurovision result is not simply a cultural curiosity. It is a form of resistance that directly undermines the ideological legitimacy of the regime’s anti-Israel platform. Academic research and journalistic investigations indicate this is not an isolated incident: satellite television, encrypted messaging apps, and diaspora community networks have all become conduits for alternative political and cultural narratives, despite fierce censorship from state institutions. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have documented systematic repression of artists, journalists, and musicians inside Iran; for many, supporting Israeli cultural milestones is not just an endorsement of artistic excellence but an act of contested political speech.
From a Western perspective, such developments are instructive. Israel’s presence and achievement at Eurovision exemplify democratic ideals—openness to diversity, recognition of individual merit, and peaceful competition—values that resonate with anti-regime Iranians who aspire to similar freedoms. Policy statements from U.S. and European officials have long acknowledged the existence of a ‘second Iran,’ made up of individuals and communities alienated from the regime and attracted to Western norms of personal liberty and rule of law. These officials caution, however, that engagement remains constrained by the regime’s crackdown on dissent and information flows, as qualified in reports from the U.S. State Department and European Union External Action Service.
Since the signing of the Abraham Accords—normalizing relations between Israel and several Arab states—analysts have tracked a realignment across the region, where pragmatic considerations outweigh ideological hostility. The emergence of Iranian opposition voices willing to express support for Israeli culture, even under threat of persecution, further illustrates how grassroots sentiment does not always align with official policies or propaganda. Studies from think tanks such as the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv detail the shift: increased numbers of Iranians now question the cost and efficacy of the regime’s anti-Israel stance, especially as economic hardship and internal repression bite ever deeper.
The cultural aspect of this development is equally notable. While Israeli artists—including Yuval Rafael—routinely participate in global events and enjoy extensive creative freedoms, their Iranian counterparts continue to face persecution. Musicians, writers, and filmmakers may be arrested on charges of “propaganda against the state” or “insulting the sacred,” as chronicled in recent annual reports from PEN America and Reporters Without Borders. The celebration of a free Israeli performer resonates particularly strongly among Iranian artists and their supporters, who see in such achievements a glimpse of what is possible under democracy. This sentiment is amplified by the persistent memory of pre-1979 Iran, when cultural exchange with Israel was normalized and the Jewish community flourished in relative freedom.
The durability and significance of this phenomenon must, however, be kept in perspective. The Islamic Republic’s intelligence and security services remain highly effective at monitoring dissent at home and abroad, and regularly engage in arrest campaigns targeting activists accused of “foreign collusion.” Nevertheless, waves of protest and continuous digital communication between Iranians inside and outside the country erode the effectiveness of blanket ideological control. Western intelligence assessments, as published by the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence and corroborated by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, find that younger generations in Iran are particularly unlikely to support further conflict or ideological isolation.
From Israel’s standpoint, the support received by Yuval Rafael from segments of the Iranian opposition underscores a long-standing Israeli narrative: that hostility against Israel is maintained by authoritarian rulers, not by the people themselves. Statements from Israeli officials, referencing this development—though careful not to overstate its immediate impact—highlight the potential for future people-to-people reconciliation. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through official digital channels, has amplified instances of cross-cultural goodwill as part of its wider strategy to emphasize the distinctions between state-driven enmity and individual aspirations for peace.
Internationally, the episode serves as a reminder that culture remains a potent vehicle for political expression, especially under regimes that curtail basic freedoms. The Eurovision Contest has, throughout its history, served as both a barometer and a catalyst for political change. In cases such as this, where official narratives are publicly challenged, Western governments and multilateral institutions stress the importance of offering practical support to civil society and maintaining diplomatic pressure against the use of violence by state and non-state actors alike.
While the immediate impact of the Iranian opposition’s outpouring for Rafael is symbolic rather than structural, it remains a telling indicator of broader societal undercurrents. As the region continues to navigate the fallout from major events—including the aftermath of the October 7th massacre by Hamas, ongoing hostilities between Israel and Iranian-backed militias, and the escalating humanitarian crises in Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen—the resonance of grassroots, cross-border cultural solidarity should not be underestimated.
The trend also raises broader questions about the future of the Islamic Republic’s foreign and domestic policies. With rising internal dissent and worsening economic isolation due to international sanctions, some analysts argue that Iran’s leaders face mounting challenges to the ideological coherence of their anti-Israel position. Whether incremental or transformative, shifts in public opinion—especially among youth and in exile—may eventually constrain the regime’s freedom of action, particularly if echoed across other sectors of Iranian society.
In conclusion, the broad-based Iranian opposition support for Yuval Rafael’s Eurovision achievement illustrates the persistent disconnect between official policy and popular sentiment in Iran. It provides concrete evidence that Israel’s cultural successes, rooted in the values that underpin Western democracies, can serve as an inspiration for those hoping to move their societies toward openness, creative freedom, and peaceful coexistence. For policymakers and observers in the West, it is a signal that, even amid profound regional instability and violence, opportunities for cross-cultural understanding endure—shaped less by governments than by the aspirations and actions of ordinary people.
