Yuval Raphael was all smiles on Eurovision’s turquoise carpet in Basel on Sunday, in spite of jeers and even threats from protesters. She walked as part of an event where each contestant makes an appearance, a prelude to the opening of the 69th Eurovision Song Contest on May 13.
Raphael, who looked lovely in a flirty light-colored minidress, carried an Israeli flag past demonstrators screaming pro-Palestine slogans, one of whom drew a finger across his throat as if he were threatening to slit Raphael’s.
KAN, Israel’s public broadcaster, which sponsors Israel’s participation in Eurovision, filed a complaint with the Basel police and also contacted the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the body that runs Eurovision, asking that the man, who stared directly into a camera filming the event, be identified and barred from taking part in any upcoming festivities.
The Israeli delegation was expecting such hostility, which was remarked upon by the international press covering the popular international song contest. Eurovision Fun, one of the most popular websites that covers the competition, wrote, “This act, which is far from a peaceful form of protest, could not go unnoticed.”
But Eurovision director Martin Green did not seem to have heard about the incident when he was interviewed yesterday for the podcast, The Euro Trip, where he said, “This is a free country, this is a democracy, everyone has the right to their own opinion. Those who were there today demonstrated in a peaceful and respectful manner.”
There was no word Monday as to whether the local police in Basel had located the man.
Yuval Raphael: From surviving October 7 to the Eurovision
Raphael, a survivor of the massacre at the Nova Music Festival on October 7, 2023, has said in several interviews that she is not afraid of anything to do with Eurovision. She emphasized that she has already faced down the worst of humanity, as terrorists on that day repeatedly hurled grenades and fired their rifles into the bomb shelter where she was hiding. Of the approximately 50 who ran into the bomb shelter that day, only 11 survived.
She maintained her cool throughout the turquoise-carpet event. In an interview with a local journalist, Raphael, who lived in Switzerland as a child for years, said, “It’s Switzerland that feels like a home to me, because we used to travel all over. There is one thing that always makes me, like, deja-vu. It’s the air, you know – like the smell of the air when I go out of the airport, when I smell the fresh air of Switzerland for the first time.”