The first semi-final took place on 26 February 2013. "Forever" performed by Shany Zamir, "Love Is One" performed by Ron Weinreich and "Ad Elay" performed by Kathleen Reiter qualified directly to the final, while "Hayom" performed by Judah Gavra advanced to the Second Chance round. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, Moshe Peretz performed the Eurovision Song Contest 1979 winning song "Hallelujah" as the interval act. The jury panel that voted in the first semi-final consisted of Ilanit (1973 and 1977 Israeli Eurovision entrant), Moshe Datz (1991 Israeli Eurovision entrant), Dafna Dekel (1992 Israeli Eurovision entrant), Uri Paster (theatre and cinema director) and Mira Awad (2009 Israeli Eurovision entrant).