Israel unveils ‘New Day Will Rise,’ its 2025 Eurovision power ballad
Nova massacre survivor Yuval Raphael, who will perform in Basel, Switzerland in May, says the song ‘represents the healing that we all need and the optimism for the days ahead’
Amy Spiro is a reporter and writer with The Times of Israel
Israel on Sunday released its song for the 2025 Eurovision, a slow-building power ballad titled “New Day Will Rise,” two months ahead of the competition in Basel, Switzerland.
The song, performed by Yuval Raphael and written by singer-songwriter Keren Peles, is largely in English with lines in Hebrew and French.
The chorus of the song includes the lines: “New day will rise/ Life will go on/ Everyone cries/ Don’t cry alone/ Darkness will fade/ All the pain will go by/ But we will stay.”
The video for the song includes Raphael and a group of young people gathered together singing, dancing and embracing in a grassy area, scenes which will likely be reminiscent for many Israelis of the Nova music festival, where 364 Israelis were massacred by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023. Raphael herself attended the festival near the Gaza border and managed to survive the attack.
Red anemones, a symbol of Israel’s southern region, can also be spotted in the grass in the video.
The Hebrew in the power ballad is a line from the Song of Songs, which translates to: “Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it.”
“This is a powerful statement, it doesn’t matter how much fire they aim at us, our water is stronger, our love is stronger, they can’t extinguish us, they can’t burn us — it’s the most important line in the song and I didn’t even write it,” Peles told the Kan public broadcaster on Sunday night.
In a statement from Kan, which represents Israel in the contest, Raphael said that “for me the song represents the healing that we all need and the optimism for the days ahead — our future. The song speaks about our strength, all of ours, our shared hope, the support and love of such beautiful people in our country… a new day will dawn, and it will be the best there ever has been.”
Peles said the song represents the “new sunrise” that everyone in Israel is hoping for on the horizon after such a difficult period.
Raphael said Sunday night that she wants to “give it a million percent, let me work at it, let me maximize it, to make it the best possible so that everyone will be proud, and we’ll bring pride to this country.”
The singer lived as a child for three years in Geneva, Switzerland, during which she learned French and wanted to incorporate it into the song. The lines in French include translations of the English portions of the song: “You are the rainbow of my sky/ My colors in the grey/ My only wish upon a star/ Sunshine in the day/ The only song that my piano ever plays.”
The lyrics and the video were approved last month by the European Broadcasting Union, which organizes the contest and bars any political content in the competing songs. Last year, Israel’s original submission, “October Rain,” was rejected by the EBU on charges that it referenced the October 7 Hamas attack. Kan ultimately agreed to lightly rewrite the song and title it “Hurricane.”
Raphael, an amateur singer, was selected to represent Israel in January by winning the “Hakochav Haba” (Rising Star) reality TV contest. Raphael survived the Hamas attack on the Nova festival by playing dead and hiding out under a pile of bodies in a roadside bomb shelter near Kibbutz Be’eri, as successive Hamas terrorists opened fire on the huddled partygoers — until she was finally rescued after eight hours.
She was wounded in her leg but ultimately recovered; 16 of those inside the shelter were murdered, and only 12 emerged alive. After her recovery, Raphael traveled around the world telling her story in international forums, including at the UN.
Israel will compete in the second semifinal of the contest, slated for May 15, aiming for a spot in the grand final on May 18.
Like last year, Raphael and Israel are expected to face protests and boycott calls leading up to and during the competition. The EBU has once again made a point of ignoring the boycott calls and providing tacit support to Israel’s participation in the contest this year.
Last year’s competition, in Malmo, Sweden, saw large protests outside the arena, boos while Israeli Eden Golan performed her song “Hurricane” on stage, snubs from the other competitors and a handful of subtle pro-Palestinian gestures on stage.
Despite the vocal opposition, supporters of Israel rallied in the public vote, pushing Golan into the final and leading her to a fifth-place finish overall and the second-highest number of votes in the televote.
Israel has been competing in the annual contest since 1973, winning four times — in 1978 with Izhar Cohen’s “A-Ba-Ni-Bi,” 1979 with Milk and Honey’s “Hallelujah,” 1998 with Dana International’s “Diva” and in 2018 with Netta Barzilai’s “Toy.”
