Yuval Raphael, Nova massacre survivor, to represent Israel at 2025 Eurovision

Yuval Raphael, a survivor of the Hamas attack on the Nova music festival, will represent Israel at the 2025 Eurovision.

Raphael, 24, wins the “Hakochav Haba” (Rising Star) reality contest, winning the most votes from the judges and the public, and will compete in the song contest in Basel, Switzerland, in May. Her song is slated to be selected next month by a committee convened by the Kan public broadcaster.

The amateur singer was with friends at the Nova festival when it came under attack by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023. She survived by hiding under dead bodies inside a roadside bomb shelter.

“Music is one of the strongest ingredients in my healing process,” Raphael said during the final.

Raphael said she wants to appear in Europe and “tell them the story of the country, of what I went through, of what others went through,” speaking in an interview ahead of the final. “I want to tell the story — but not from a place of seeking sympathy. 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.”