Eurovision 2025: Hamas attack survivor to represent Israel at song contest

In October 2023, when Hamas militants killed over 370 people at the Nova music festival, Yuval Raphael survived by hiding under a pile of bodies. Now, the Israeli singer has been picked to represent her country at Eurovision.

The 24-year-old won the reality TV contest HaKokhav Haba, or The Next Star, on Wednesday, earning her the right to represent Israel at Eurovision 2025 in Switzerland in May.

Raphael performed a ballad version of ABBA's "Dancing Queen" during the qualifying competition, dedicating it to "all the angels" who were murdered during the Nova festival.

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Her selection follows fierce debate over last year's Eurovision, when Israeli competitor Eden Golan had to change her lyrics over their apparent references to October 7.

When Golan performed a revamped version of her song at last year's final, both cheers and boos could be heard from the audience.

In the early hours of the deadliest attack in Israeli history, Hamas gunmen stormed the open-air festival which was taking place two kilometres (about a mile) from the Gaza Strip.

The militants hunted participants for hours, killing more than 370 people, according to official Israeli data, and taking 44 others hostage.

- 'It was the only way I could survive the nightmare' -

Speaking to Israeli public radio on Thursday, Raphael recounted the ordeal and the importance of music even at that time.

"Music is so important to me that it accompanied me even in that moment," she said.

Speaking of her success, she said she was lucky "to be here, and at the same time, this song is for all those angels who don't have the chance to be here... that's why I want to represent us".

In her testimony before the UN Human Rights Council in April 2024, Raphael described how when rocket fire began, a prelude to the militant attack, she and more than 40 other festival-goers took refuge in a small bomb shelter.

Soon, Hamas militants began firing and throwing grenades into the shelter, she told the council.

"Suddenly my world crumbled... trapped and fearing for my life, I witnessed unspeakable horrors," she said.

"Friends and strangers were injured and killed before my eyes. When the bodies of those murdered fell on us, I understood that hiding under them was the only way I could survive the nightmare."

She said that only 10 others hiding with her survived.

"The physical injuries I sustained are healing but the mental scars will stay with me forever," she said.

After winning the Israeli reality TV contest on Wednesday, news website Walla said a judge from the show described Raphael's journey as an "incredible Cinderella story".

"She survived the horror, rose from the rubble and is now doing public diplomacy for us (Israel) around the world," said another, according to Walla.

The performer told Kan on Thursday that she "mostly sang a lot in the shower", though she took singing lessons for a year as a teenager.

She said she would be ready to face the kind of hostility her predecessor Golan did.

After being heckled during her performance at the contest last year, Golan finished fifth.

Contestants are awarded points by both national juries and a public vote.

"I don't expect to arrive in a place where everyone will help and love me," Raphael said, adding that she would have support from a team, including a psychologist.

"This whole year has helped me understand what I need to keep my spirits up in situations much more difficult than boos."

(This story has been published from a news agency feed with minimal edits to adhere to WION's style guide. The headline may have been changed to better reflect the content of the story or to make it more suitable for WION audience.)