Israel’s Yuval Raphael says she was moved by audience support at Eurovision rehearsal

After completing her first full rehearsal in front of a live audience last night, Israeli Eurovision contestant Yuval Raphael said she was moved by their support.

“The audience moved me in a way that I wanted to cry,” Raphael said in an video shared by the Kan public broadcaster. “I was prepared for tons of boos, and I couldn’t hear a single one, I only heard support, saw Israeli flags.”

Israel had been concerned about the possibility of a repeat of last year, when singer Eden Golan faced loud boos in the crowd while singing in Malmo, Sweden. This year, Swiss organizers relaxed rules on which flags can be brought to the arena, allowing anything legal under Swiss law, which includes the Palestinian flag. Only a handful of such flags could be seen in the audience during the first semifinal on Tuesday night.

Raphael will perform 14th this evening in the Eurovision’s second semifinal, singing “New Day Will Rise” and hoping for enough votes from the public to advance to Saturday’s grand final.