About 200 million human beings in Europe and throughout the world will view the final Eurovision event taking place this year in Tel Aviv, with 41 participating countries. And thousands of tourists are in Israel for the popular Eurovision Song Contest 2019. The Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation — which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would love to eliminate — worked hard this past year to try to produce the most splendid, impressive, and largest event in the history of Eurovision, which was founded in 1956. The grandiose semifinal show May 14 adopted the competition’s motto, "Dare to Dream," and even persuaded Madonna to sing at the finals. Madonna’s recruitment to the artistic part of the competition was made possible by the donation of $1 million by Israeli-Canadian millionaire Sylvan Adams and half a million dollars more by another philanthropist who wants to remain anonymous.

In its desire to present artistic power, Israel is making a statement to the world: that the country is not what you thought. It certainly does not resemble what you see on television news broadcasts about Gaza or the West Bank.

The last time the Eurovision contest was held in Israel was 20 years ago, in Jerusalem’s International Convention Center. Much has changed since then: This time, Israel knew that if it held the competition in the holy city, many countries would consider boycotting the event. And the local Jerusalem ultra-Orthodox Jews would also not make it easy for the organizers.

Tel Aviv was chosen as a compromise. The Israel of 2019 is far more religious, chauvinist, ultra-Orthodox and extremist than it was in 1998, when Dana International graced the event with her presence. In this spirit, the producers of the event prepared a humorous clip in the style of a musical called “The Land of Sun and Honey.” The clip included recommendations of sights to see in the country and sought to teach tourists something about the strange customs and the in-your-face (some would call it vulgar) behavior of the Israelis. The clip opened with Lucy Ayoub (one of the four Eurovision emcees) and Elia Greenfield (songwriter) receiving tourists in Ben Gurion Airport. “You’ve heard that this is a land of occupation and war,” they sang, “There is much more than that here.”