The video of “New Day Will Rise,” Israel’s song for Eurovision 2025, was revealed in a broadcast on Kan 11 on Sunday night, performed by Yuval Raphael, the Israeli representative to the song contest. The song, the video, and Raphael’s soulful, energetic performance spoke of healing from the trauma of the war, while keeping in mind those who lost their lives and those still held hostage by Hamas in Gaza.
Raphael, 24, a survivor of the October 7 massacre at the Supernova Music Festival, gives the song her all in the video, which shows her with a group of young people, romping through sunny fields, as she sings, “New day will rise/Life will go on/Everyone cries/Don’t cry alone/Darkness will fade/All the pain will fade/But we will stay/Even if you say goodbye.”
The video shows Raphael singing with a group of young people who clown around outdoors, juggle, dance, play guitar, kiss, and have a picnic. It’s as if the survivors have gotten together to celebrate life and have fun, an illustration of the motto, “We will dance again.”
Raphael appears at one point, standing on grass in darkness, a chandelier over her head. At another point, young people are seen running through fields, like the festival goers did to escape the terrorists, but as the video continues, they run to the beach at sunset. Wearing a white dress, Raphael stands on the beach and sings the line, “New day will rise,” one last time.
The song, by Keren Peles, who also wrote last year’s song, “Hurricane,” and who served on the panel of judges of the Next Star for Eurovision, which chose Raphael, features lyrics in French and Hebrew in addition to English. Raphael spent part of her childhood in Switzerland and speaks French fluently. Tomer Biran arranged the song and supervised the musical production.
The Hebrew section includes a verse from the Biblical Song of Songs, “Many waters cannot quench love, nor can rivers sweep it away.”
In the special broadcast on Kan to unveil the video, Raphael joined Eden Golan, last year’s Eurovision representative, for a powerful, emotional duet on the song “Hurricane,” a traditional passing-the-torch moment. “Hurricane” was a musical journey into the aftermath of the music-festival massacre, featuring lines such as, “I’m still broken from this hurricane.” “Hurricane” was adapted from the original version of the song, which referenced October 7 more explicitly and was called “October Rain,” which the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) rejected as being too political.
Golan faced a huge wave of hate from anti-Israel hecklers who loudly booed her during her performances, but this failed to rattle the extremely poised young singer. She performed with grace under pressure, coming in second in the popular vote and finishing fifth overall. Off-stage, Golan received death threats and often disguised herself in wigs to stay safe in Malmo, Sweden, where the competition took place, a city with one of the highest rates of antisemitic incidents in Europe.
This year’s competition will take place in Basel, Switzerland in May. Raphael will perform on the second night of the competition, on May 15.
Raphael has said she is not afraid to face taunts of antisemites and protesters, having gone through the massacre. She survived in an outdoor bomb shelter on a road near the music festival, into which terrorists fired rifles and threw grenades. As the attack began, she called her father, who counseled her to play dead. She hid under bodies for hours, one of only 12 survivors from around 40 who entered the shelter.
In one of her final songs in the Next Star competition, she sang ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” in a slow, ballad-like version, which she dedicated to “all the angels who left us at the Nova.”
In the documentary on her that Kan aired Sunday, she said that she knew she was a good singer before the festival, but that her near-death experience helped her conquer her fear of performing in public. “I felt freed... that I had nothing to lose,” she said.
Wishes of congratulations
In the leadup to the song, celebrities sent Raphael encouraging messages, and actress/comic Alma Zack spoke for many when she said, “Whatever happens at Eurovision, Yuval, you’re number one.”
Culture and Sport Minister Miki Zohar congratulated Raphael, saying, “A powerful song for the beloved Jubil. We were all moved by your story, which accompanies your representation of the State of Israel during this period. The people of Israel are behind you, go stand against Europe and show them that even from the most difficult place, A new day will rise," he said.