Israel chooses singer Yuval Raphael, a survivor of the Hamas attack on October 7, for Eurovision 2025

Israel has chosen the singer Yuval Raphael, 24, one of the survivors of the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, as a representative for the Eurovision Song Contest that will be held next May in the Swiss city of Basel.

Born in the Israeli city of Raanana, Raphael became the winner of the talent show ‘The Rising Star’, where the candidate who will represent the country in the European contest is also chosen. “I can’t explain how excited and prepared I am! Thank you for giving me this great honor and trusting me to represent my country on the great Eurovision stage in Switzerland,” she celebrated.

In an interview on Kan public radio, Raphael said that she was able to be rescued after the Hamas attack on the Supernova music festival after hiding for eight hours in a shelter among corpses. “After October 7 I realized that music heals me,” said the artist.

The song that Yuval Raphael will take to Basel will be revealed by the Israeli radio station Kan in the coming weeks, as reported by Eurovision. In the previous edition, Israel achieved fifth position in the contest with Eden Golan and his song ‘Hurricane’, a candidacy that caused controversy during the week of the festival and boos during the performance.