“It’s truly such an honor to be here on stage performing and showing our voice and representing us with pride,” she said, adding the organizers had taken precautions to make the event safe for everyone.
The solo artist characterizes her song as a strong power ballad that describes a person going through a storm of emotions.
Armenia, Austria, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Latvia and Norway also qualified for the final.
Eurovision organizers had resisted calls to exclude Israel over its military campaign in Gaza, triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, arguing that the competition is a non-political event.
More than 10,000 pro-Palestinian campaigners, including climate activist Greta Thunberg, staged a non-violent protest in the hours ahead of the semi-final, waiving Palestinian flags and shouting “boycott Israel”.
A smaller group of pro-Israeli supporters, including members of Malmo’s Jewish community, also staged a peaceful demonstration in the city, defending Golan and her nation’s right to take part in the contest.
Hundreds of artists in Sweden and elsewhere have pushed for Israel to be blocked from taking part, as did two Belgian government ministers earlier this year.
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organizes the event, requested earlier this year that Israel tweak its initial lyrics in order to participate, saying they had originally made reference to the Oct. 7 attack.
In a video statement earlier on Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Golan for her participation.
“You are not only taking on Eurovision in a proud and very impressive manner, you are also contending successfully with an ugly wave of antisemitism — and representing the State of Israel with enormous honor,” Netanyahu said.
