Israel has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 44 times since making its debut in . Israel was able to enter the contest as the Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA) was an active member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which was responsible for the event. The IBA was succeeded as the broadcaster in charge of the Israeli entry by the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC/Kan) in 2018. Israel has won the contest four times, and has hosted the contest in Jerusalem twice in and . Israel hosted the contest for the third time in Tel Aviv in . Israel's first appearance at the contest in 1973 was successful, with Ilanit finishing fourth. Israel then achieved victories in 1978 and 1979, with wins for Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta with the song "A-Ba-Ni-Bi", and Milk and Honey with "Hallelujah". In , the IBA declined to host the contest for the second successive year for financial reasons, and as the date for the contest in The Hague conflicted with Yom HaZikaron – Israeli Memorial Day – Israel did not participate. This is the only time that the winning country did not compete the following year. The country's best results in the 1980s were second-place finishes for Avi Toledano in and Ofra Haza in . Former winner Izhar Cohen returned to place fifth in , before Duo Datz finished third in . Israel achieved its third victory in , with Dana International and "Diva". Eden then finished fifth in . Israel has the record for most participations and most wins in the contest without ever coming last, but it has placed second to last in the final three times, in , and , and got nul points from the juries in 2019. Since the introduction of the semi-finals in 2004, Israel has failed to reach the final six times. In , Shiri Maimon gave the country its tenth top five result, finishing fourth. Having failed to qualify for the final for four consecutive years (2011–14), Israel reached the final for the first time in five years, with Nadav Guedj finishing ninth in , and the country had participated in the final every year since, including a fourth victory courtesy of Netta with "Toy" in . The qualification streak ended in , when Michael Ben David failed to progress to the final. History Victories To date there have been four Israeli victories in the