.jpg?trim=0,0,0,0&width=1200&height=800&crop=1200:800 "Eurovision 2025: Who is Yuvul Raphael? The singer and 7 October survivor representing Israel – UK Times")
Yuvul Raphael is the singer representing Israel at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.
Israel’s participation in Eurovision is controversial due to its ongoing war on Gaza, in a conflict that Palestinian health authorities say has killed more than 52,800 people.
Israel’s military offensive was launched after Hamas attacked on 7 October 2023, killing around 1,200 people at the Nova festival and taking more than 250 hostages.
Follow live updates from the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 here.
Raphael, 24, was among the festival attendees who attempted to flee the carnage as rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel and Hamas gunmen began shooting at revellers.
She was one of just 11 survivors from a group of around 50 people who took refuge in a concrete bomb shelter on the side of the road – she hid under a pile of dead bodies for eight hours until she and the other survivors were rescued.
Her singing career only started after the attack, when she took part in the TV talent show HaKokhav HaBa, which she eventually won. Raphael, who lived in Geneva, Switzerland, for three years, cites influences including classic rock bands like Led Zeppelin, as well as singers such as Beyonce and Celine Dion.
“I wished for myself to be happy and to really understand the gift that I had been given, and that’s to live,” she has said of pursuing a music career. “To have more experiences, to be happy, and to live fully.”
Raphael will sing her song “New Day Will Rise” at the second Eurovision 2025 semi-final on Thursday (15 May).
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organises Eurovision, has rules that mean no political statements can be made during the competition.
Raphael, who previously gave testimony about her experience to the United Nations, will apparently not speak to accredited journalists at the contest in Basel, Switzerland, due to security reasons.
Last week, over 70 former Eurovision contestants signed an open letter calling for Israel and its official broadcaster KAN to be banned from the competition.
The letter accused KAN of being “complicit in Israel’s genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza and the decades-long regime of apartheid and military occupation against the entire Palestinian people”.
Israel vehemently denies that it is committing genocide. Court proceedings at the United Nation’s highest court, the International Court of Justice, are ongoing.
Eurovision 2024 was also plagued by controversy due to Israel’s participation in the contest with singer Eden Golan. Some critics accused the EBU of hypocrisy for refusing to remove Israel from the competition, having previously ejected Russia in 2022 following Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
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“We understand the concerns and deeply held views around the current conflict in the Middle East,” Martin Green CBE, director of the Eurovision Song Contest, told The Independent.
“The EBU is an association of public service broadcasters who are all eligible to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest every year. Additionally, as part of its mission to secure a sustainable future for public service media, the EBU is supporting our Israeli Member Kan against the threat from being privatized or shut down by the Israeli government.
“We are not immune to global events but, together, it is our role to ensure the Contest remains – at its heart – a universal event that promotes connections, diversity and inclusion through music. The EBU remains aligned with other international organisations that have similarly maintained their inclusive stance towards Israeli participants in major competitions at this time.”
Earlier this week, Raphael said she was trying to put everything else aside in order to focus on her performance: “The slogan this year is ‘united by music’ and that’s what we are here for,” she told the BBC.
On Sunday, KAN made a complaint to the police and the EBU after accusing a pro-Palestinian demonstrator of making a throat-slitting gesture and spitting at the Israeli delegation while they were on the turquoise carpet.
“It was scary at times, even uncomfortable, but it makes me keep reminding myself why I’m here and my agenda, which is spreading as much love as I can and bringing pride to my country,” Raphael said.
