Due to the rapidly expanding size of the Contest , entry to the 1996 Contest was determined through an internal preselection in which judges listened to recordings of the proposed entries . Israel did not progress through this stage . Entry to the 1997 Contest was restricted to those countries with the best average scores over the previous five years , a group which did not include Israel . The country did , however , participate as a " passive participant " , by screening the Contest live . This earned Israel the right to re-enter the Contest in 1998 . Hence , the song was succeeded as Israeli representative at the 1998 Contest by Dana International with " Diva "
1998 Contest
Eurovision Song Contest 1998
Amen (Liora song)