"New day will rise" is Israel's contribution to the European Championship Song Contest. It is performed by 24-year-old Yuval Raphael. She is one of the survivors of the Hamas attack on the Israeli music festival Nova on October 7, 2023, when 370 people were killed.
Raphael has since traveled the world to share her experiences.
"I want to tell the story of my country, about what I and others went through. I want to stand strong through the boos I am a hundred percent sure will come."
Israel's participation in the European Championship Song Contest has been debated since the war began. The competition in Malmö last year was marked by protests and protests against the country's participation. EBU was accused of hypocrisy when it allowed Israel to remain in the competition, after previously excluding Russia in 2022 due to Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Letter to EBU
Last week, an open letter was written to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), where 70 musicians and artists associated with the European Championship Song Contest demanded that Israel and its national TV company KAN be stopped from this year's competition.
"KAN is complicit in Israel's genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza, the decade-long apartheid regime, and the military occupation of the entire Palestinian people," it said, among other things.
Among those who have signed the letter are former winners such as Charlie McGettigan, Salvador Sobral, and Fernando Tordo, British singer Mae Muller, French singer La Zarra, and last year's contestants Norwegian Gåte and Icelandic Ásdís María, who participated in what was described as "the most politicized, chaotic and unpleasant in the competition's history".
No major protests in Switzerland
In Basel, there has been no question of nearly as extensive protests as those that lined Malmö's streets last year. But many Palestinian flags were seen in the audience at the turquoise carpet, the opening ceremony for the European Championship, which took place on Sunday.
Last year, the Palestinian flag was banned inside the Malmö Arena, but the audience at this year's competition in Switzerland is welcome to wave whatever flags they want – including pride flags.
The artists on stage, however, must stick to their own country's flag. This reports DR, which has taken part in the organizer EBU's new flag policy.
The updated guidelines mean more freedom for the audience and less for the artists. According to the organizers, political messages should be avoided this year as well, but the host country Switzerland "values freedom of expression highly" and therefore the audience is allowed to bring any flag they want into the hall – as long as they do not break Swiss law.
Born: November 5, 2000, in Ra'anana, Israel.
Yuval Raphael grew up in Pedaya and has lived in Switzerland, specifically in Geneva, for three years during her upbringing.
As a child, she listened to Led Zeppelin, Scorpions, Beyoncé, and Céline Dion. She began singing professionally in 2023.
Raphael participated in the music festival Nova in Re'im on October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked the festival. She hid in a tent near a kibbutz along with fifty other people, but got splinter injuries from grenades thrown into the tent. Raphael was one of only eleven survivors.
In January, she won the talent hunt "Hakochav haba", which qualifies the country's artist for the European Championship Song Contest. Which song the artist will perform will be decided later by Israel's public service company KAN.
