24-year-old Yuval Raphael will represent Israel at the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 in Basel, Switzerland, with the song “New Day Will Rise”
On 7 October 2023, she was with friends at the Nova music festival when it was attacked by Muslims. 364 of the participants were killed. 40 were kidnapped and taken hostage.
Hiding under dead bodies
Raphael survived by hiding in a bomb shelter where, for eight hours, she lay motionless under dead bodies while the Muslims fired and threw grenades. Only 11 of over 40 people in the room survived. She still carries splinters in her head and leg from the attack.
Raphael, who had never performed professionally before, won Israel’s talent competition HaKokhav HaBa in January 2025 – securing her place in Eurovision.
Salomo’s Song of Songs
The song is written by Keren Peles. It mixes Hebrew, English and French and includes verses from the Song of Solomon that give hope:
– Music is among the strongest ingredients in my healing process.
Yuval Raphael, the Nova massacre survivor who is representing Israel in the Eurovision song contest , is on her way to Basel, Switzerland.
She will participate in the Semi-Finals on May 15 and hopefully at the finals, on May 17.Please share Yuval’s beautiful song
«A New Day… pic.twitter.com/0ZJ0rZ1MtQ– The Voice Of Truth 🙌 (@thevoicetruth1) May 5, 2025
Strong enough to represent Israel
The choice of Raphael has attracted international attention. In Eurovision 2024, Eden Golan was met with protests and booing. Iceland and Spain have called for Israel to be excluded from the 2025 competition, but Raphael is said to have the strength to stand up for Israel.
Yuval Raphael, Israel’s representative at the Eurovision Song Contest and a survivor of the October 7, 2023, Nova festival massacre, shares a moving message before heading to the contest in Basel, Switzerland. Good luck, Yuval — we know you’ll make us proud! ✨🇮🇱 pic.twitter.com/Y6dZIaN07S
— StandWithUs (@StandWithUs) May 5, 2025