Former Israel Prime Minister Suggests Eurovision Question to Suss Out Hamas Fighters

Israel’s former prime minister Naftali Bennett offered an odd piece of advice to Israelis looking to uncover Hamas militants posing as soldiers in the Israel Defense Force.

In a message shared with Channel 12 News Israel, Bennett advised viewers to be skeptical of soldiers saying they were with the IDF knocking on their door by asking a few “code” questions. “If the ‘IDF’ knocks on your door, it could be terrorists, so don’t open it right away,” he said, adding that they should ask what unit the soldiers are with, as well as asking “who represented Israel in Eurovision?,” because “the terrorists [Hamas] will not know.”

Bennett’s advice comes just after Hamas launched a surprise attack against Israel on Saturday morning, which left at least 900 people dead in Israel and at least 560 more dead in Gaza after Israel launched a counterattack via airstrike.

The initial strike included an attack on the Universo Paralello music festival in Re’im, Israel, where at least 260 festivalgoers were killed, while other attendees were reportedly abducted by Hamas. Raz Gaster, an artist manager who was in attendance at the event, described the attack to Billboard, saying that he witnessed the initial bombing that took place before fleeing the scene under the advisement of police. “We only wanted to dance and have a good time and enjoy music together, and it turned into a nightmare,” he said.

Israeli pop star Noa Kirel was selected to represent Israel in the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest. With her hit song “Unicorn,” Kirel advanced to the contest’s final, where she ultimately placed third, just after Finland and Sweden, the latter of whom took home the top prize thanks to repeat winner Loreen and her track “Tattoo.”