Prior to the 2013 Contest, Israel had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest thirty-five times since its first entry in 1973. Israel has won the contest on three occasions: in 1978 with the song "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" performed by Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta, in 1979 with the song "Hallelujah" performed by Milk and Honey and in 1998 with the song "Diva" performed by Dana International. Since the introduction of semi-finals to the format of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2004, Israel has, to this point, managed to qualify to the final five times, including two top ten results in 2005 with Shiri Maimon and "Hasheket Shenish'ar" placing fourth, and in 2008 with Boaz and "The Fire In Your Eyes" placing ninth. In 2011 and 2012, Israel has failed to qualify to the final consecutively, which included their 2012 entry "Time" performed by Izabo.