On October 7, 2023, Israeli singer Yuval Raphael, 25, was attending the Nova music festival in Re’im when Hamas militants launched a deadly attack. She took shelter with around 50 others near Kibbutz Be’eri, where she sustained shrapnel injuries from grenades thrown into the shelter. Raphael was one of just 11 survivors, having hidden beneath the bodies of the dead for eight harrowing hours.
Yuval Raphael represented Israel at the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 in Basel, Switzerland, performing the song “New Day Will Rise.” Her powerful performance earned her second place in the competition. In the second semi-final of the Eurovision, held on May 15, 2025, Yuval Raphael qualified for the final. In the grand finale, she finished in second place with a total of 357 points, winning the audience vote with an impressive 297 points. Her achievement was marred by several antisemitic incidents at the event, as well as violent disturbances by pro-Hamas demonstrators in Basel.
But, as it turned out, the hostility of the demonstrators was overshadowed by the animosity Yuval Raphael faced from some of her fellow performers and some event organizers. The depth of hostility her mere presence on the European stage provoked revealed a troubling undercurrent of resentment and bias that went far beyond the protests outside.
Austrian-Filipino LGBTQ+ artist JJ (full name Johannes Pietsch) won the Eurovision glass microphone with a total of 436 points, after a nail-biting race against Yuval Raphael. After the dust settled, JJ told the Spanish daily EL PAÍS: “It’s very disappointing to see Israel still participating in the competition. I would like Eurovision to be held in Vienna next year, without Israel. But the ball is in the EBU’s court. We, the artists, can only speak out on the matter.”
The EBU is the European Broadcasting Union. It requires all contestants to sign a code of conduct that prohibits them from making negative remarks about any of the other competing nations and to uphold the unifying spirit and values of the Eurovision Song Contest.
Ahead of the contest, more than 70 artists from 12 different countries sent an open letter to the Eurovision organizers, accusing Israeli broadcaster Kan11 of being “complicit in Israel’s genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza.” The signatories argued that by allowing Israel to participate, the EBU was “normalizing and whitewashing its crimes” through the platform of the contest.
“I believe that the Israeli government has been and is inflicting genocide on the people of Palestine, and for that reason, Israel should be barred from competing in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest,” said Charlie McGettigan, who won the competition for Ireland in 1994.
The letter’s signatories said they “refuse to allow music to be used to whitewash crimes against humanity” and they urge EBU to “act now and prevent further discredit and disruption to the festival.”
EUROPEAN AUDIENCES LOVED THE JEWISH GIRL
Raphael received only 60 points in the national jury’s vote. The outcome of the Eurovision Song Contest is determined by a combination of votes from a professional jury composed of music industry experts and from viewers at home, with each contributing 50 percent to the final result. The professionals’ vote put the Israeli singer in 14th place.
Next come the viewers, who cast their votes via phone call, SMS, or the official Eurovision app. Each viewer is allowed to vote up to 20 times, helping to determine 50 percent of the final outcome.
As I mentioned, that vote earned Yuval Raphael 297 points, as the people living in countries that hate Israel’s guts expressed their love for Israel and her singer: for example, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom were among the countries whose viewers awarded Israel the maximum 12 points, while Ireland and Finland gave 10 points.
Then came the backlash. The Spanish broadcaster RTVE announced it would request an investigation into the results and a review of the televoting system, citing concerns about the “integrity and transparency of the process.”
Katia Segers, a Flemish MP, said: “A system in which everyone can cast up to 20 votes is a system that encourages manipulation. Whether this manipulation occurred in our country and all other participating and non-participating countries must be investigated.”
They were very upset. Much like European liberal politicians who are being ousted by droves of right-wing parties who appeal to Joe Voter, the “professionals” couldn’t stand the appearance of an enormous gap between their jaundiced response to the Israeli singer’s performance and the gushing love of their viewers.
Dutch public broadcasters Avrotros and NPO issued a statement expressing concern that the Eurovision Song Contest was becoming “increasingly influenced by societal and geopolitical tensions.” They noted that Israel’s participation “raises the question of whether Eurovision still truly functions as an apolitical, unifying, and cultural event.”
In response, Eurovision Contest Director Martin Green stated that the organizers were “in constant contact with all participating broadcasters” and emphasized that they “take their concerns seriously.”
This story kind of writes itself…
