After surviving the terrorist attack at the Nova music festival by Hamas on October 7, 2023, a young woman has found solace in music and will now represent Israel at the Eurovision Song Contest in Basel, Switzerland.
Yuval Raphael, aged 24, turned to singing as a form of therapy to deal with the trauma she experienced during the incident. Along with four friends and around 40 others, she sought refuge in a roadside bomb shelter near Kibbutz Re’im after fleeing the festival in a car following the attack.
Raphael had to hide beneath the bodies of the people who were killed in front of her for approximately eight hours until help arrived. During this time, Hamas terrorists repeatedly came back to the shelter and fired at those who were hiding inside. Raphael has bravely shared her harrowing experience with the public.
Eventually, the terrorists began throwing grenades into the concrete shelter, a story similar to what dozens endured that day, including American-Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin.
Yuval Raphael, 24, won the slot to represent Israel at the Eurovision music competition Jan. 23, 2023, after having no prior singing experience. (Ortal Dahan Ziv)
“I want to tell them the story of the country, of what I went through, of what others went through,” she reportedly said ahead of the final. “I want to tell the story, but not from a place of seeking pity. I want it to be from a place of standing strong in the face of this and in the face of the boos I’m 100% sure will come from the crowd.”
Raphael’s comments were in reference to the pushback she and other Israelis have faced during the international competitions, including in 2024, following the terrorist attack and subsequent Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) operations in Gaza.
Yuval Raphael, 24, won the slot to represent Israel at the Eurovision music competition Jan. 23, 2023, despite having no prior singing experience. (Ortal Dahan Ziv)
Israel has faced calls to be banned from the international competition, but the European Broadcasting Union has rejected the push, affirming that Eurovision is a non-political music event. The 2024 Israeli contestant, Eden Golan, faced anti-Israeli protests and had to be granted a Shin Bet security detail.
Golan was also required to change the name of her song, “October Rain,” to “Hurricane” because event officials believed it was too political, The Times of Israel reported.
