How many Israeli Eurovision winners have there been?
Until this week, the answer was four. The answer is now five.
Confused? Don’t be.
Legendary Dutch singer-songwriter Lenny Kuhr, co-winner of the 1969 Eurovision Song Contest, made aliyah on Monday.
Accompanied by her husband, Robert, the 76-year-old cultural icon touched down at Ben-Gurion Airport to begin a new life, declaring that despite regional tensions, Israel is where she finally feels at home.
Kuhr and her husband were met on the tarmac by officials from the Aliyah and Integration Ministry, who are assisting the couple with their initial acclimation and paperwork.
There is something rather ironic about Lenny making aliyah this week.
After all, it was only last week that the Netherlands announced it would not participate in next year’s Eurovision Song Contest, citing “sensitivities” over Israel’s participation.
And Kuhr’s decision to leave the Netherlands was motivated, at least in part, by the rising antisemitism there.
While Kuhr’s decision to move was heavily motivated by a desire to be close to her children and grandchildren who already live in Israel, she has been candid about the deteriorating social climate for Jews in her native country. Earlier this year, Kuhr announced her retirement from the stage, pointing directly to a rise in antisemitic harassment.
“The situation in Europe is difficult,” Kuhr remarked emotionally upon her arrival. “As a singer, I am experiencing show cancellations and have even received death threats. I want to live in a country that I love, and I look forward to improving my Hebrew, living here with my husband, and being near my daughter.”
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The singer’s concerns follow a string of targeted incidents. In March 2024, pro-Palestinian activists aggressively disrupted her performance in Waalwijk, shouting insults at her from the stage. In May 2026, a prominent Dutch care home abruptly canceled a scheduled concert on her farewell tour out of fear of protests, drawing sharp criticism from community advocates who viewed the move as a troubling capitulation to intimidation.
Kuhr, who converted to Judaism in the 1970s and scored the massive Dutch hit “Visite” in 1980, has maintained lifelong ties to Israel. Her family has also been directly impacted by recent conflicts; her grandson was wounded while serving in the IDF during the Gaza war.
And there is something rather poetic about the woman whose career was launched by a contest song and defined later by a hit titled “Visite” (Visit) deciding that her stay in the Jewish state is no longer temporary.
She’s home.
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© Divuach Ne’eman R”A, 2025
