[3] On 13 November 2003, IBA announced that David D'Or was selected by a special committee consisting of music industry professionals and public representatives as its performer for the Eurovision Song Contest 2004.

[3][4] Among artists that were highly considered before D'Or was ultimately selected included Hamsa, Ninet Tayeb, Zehava Ben, and Ron Shoval.

[5] The members of the committee were Avraham Natan (Chairman of IBA), Yaakov Shaham (Chairman of IBA), Rachel Kremerman (member of the IBA Executive Committee), Menachem Granit (Director of entertainment at Kol Yisrael), Yossi Meshulam (programme director of Channel 1), Izchak Sonnenschein (Head of Israeli Eurovision delegation), Yossi Elias (Rating), Eti Abramov (Yedioth Ahronoth), Hana Goldberg (lyricist), Yaakov Naveh (singer), Ezra Suleiman (CEO of the Israeli Mediterranean Music Association), Lior Narkis (who represented Israel in 2003), Gali Atari (who won Eurovision for Israel in 1979 as part of Milk and Honey), and Liel Kolet (singer).

[9] The winning song, "Leha'amin", was selected by a combination of the votes from the committee members (40%), the audience at the game (30%) and a public televote conducted through telephone and SMS (30%).

According to the rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country, the "Big Four" (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom), and the ten highest placed finishers in the 2003 contest are required to qualify from the semi-final on 12 May 2004 in order to compete for the final on 15 May 2004; the top ten countries from the semi-final progress to the final.

[12] During the rehearsal week of the contest, David D'Or left Istanbul to be with his father, who had to have one of his legs amputated due to complications of diabetes.