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Israel’s 2025 Eurovision Singer Yuval Raphael Wants Anthem ‘New Day Will Rise’ to Send Her Message of Hope ‘All Over the World’

Israel's 2025 Eurovision singer, Yuval Raphael, hopes her anthem 'New Day Will Rise' will send a message of hope 'all over the world.'

Last year’s entry from Israel, Eden Golan — who had to change her song title from “October Rain” to “Hurricane” after complaints that it was viewed as a thinly veiled message about the Gaza war — said she received death threats and was booed when she sang. A student of past Israeli Eurovision singers such as 2015 entry Nadav Guedj (“Golden Boy”), as well as 2018’s winning artist, Netta (“Toy”), and 2023’s Noa Kirel (“Unicorn”), Raphael says she reached out to Golan for advice on how to deal with the agita surrounding her participation and the expected push-back from protesters. At the end of the interview, dropping her on-message mode briefly, Raphael has a final message she feels compelled to share — just hours before the last known living American hostage, Edan Alexander, was reunited with his family after more than 18 months in captivity.

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