Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006
Since the introduction of semi-finals to the format of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2004, Israel has, to this point, managed to qualify to the final one time, including a top ten result in 2005 with "HaSheket SheNish'ar" performed by Shiri Maimon placing fourth.The competition took place on 15 March 2006 at the Nakdi TV Studios in Jerusalem, hosted by Yael Bar Zohar and Eden Harel and was broadcast on Channel 1, via radio on Reshet Gimmel as well as online via IBA's official Eurovision Song Contest website Eurovil.The members of the committee were Yossi Meshulam, Izchak Sonnenschein, Amnon Shiloni, Menachem Granit, Nava Achiron, Noam Gil-Or and Yigal Ben David.[6][7] The competing acts were announced on 15 December 2005 and among the artists was Eddie Butler who previously represented Israel in 1999 as part of the group Eden.According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country, the "Big Four" (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom) and the ten highest placed finishers in the 2005 contest are required to qualify from the semi-final in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from the semi-final progress to the final.