Israel’s Eurovision Entry A Survivor’s Tale of Blood, Bullets, and Resilience

When Yuval Raphael steps onto the Eurovision stage in Basel, Switzerland, she will not just be representing Israel she will be standing as a survivor.

On October 7, 2023, Raphael was at the Nova music festival when Hamas terrorists stormed in, murdering over 360 people. Trapped in a roadside bomb shelter, she survived by playing dead for seven hours, buried under the bodies of her murdered friends.

Now, almost a year and a half later, she will stand before the world, singing not just for herself, but for those who can no longer tell their stories.

Raphael, 24, had come to Nova with friends to celebrate music and dance in the Negev desert. At dawn, air raid sirens rang out, followed by the sound of automatic gunfire. Terrorists armed with rifles and grenades began massacring festivalgoers.

She and her friends rushed into a small bomb shelter, hoping it would keep them safe. But within minutes, the gunmen found them.

“They fired blindly inside,” she later recalled. “People collapsed on top of each other. The wounded screamed.”

As her father called her phone, she whispered the words that would later be heard around the world:

"Dad, there are dead people on top of me. Please, send the police."

His response saved her life:

"Yuval, stop breathing. Play dead. If they think you're dead, they’ll leave you alone."

For hours, Raphael remained motionless, soaked in blood some of it hers, most of it not. The terrorists returned multiple times, finishing off anyone who showed signs of life.

At 2:00 p.m., Israeli soldiers finally arrived. Too terrified to move, the survivors only emerged when a rescuer called out a familiar name: “Nitzan, your father is waiting for you.”

Raphael walked into the daylight, her body stiff, her clothes drenched in blood. “I couldn’t believe I was alive,” she said.

In the months after the massacre, Raphael struggled with PTSD and survivor’s guilt. But she refused to let trauma define her.

“I wasn’t going to live my life as a victim,” she told Israeli media. “I wanted to turn my pain into something meaningful.”

She became an advocate for survivors, traveling to Europe and the U.S. to share her firsthand account of the massacre. At the same time, she continued her passion for music, determined to reclaim the joy that Hamas had tried to steal from her.

In January 2025, she won "The Next Star for Eurovision," Israel’s national selection contest, earning her ticket to Eurovision.

Eurovision 2025 comes at a time of growing hostility toward Israel in Europe. Protests, boycotts, and jeers are expected. But Raphael refuses to back down.

“I know some people won’t want me there,” she said. “But that’s exactly why I have to go. I want to stand on that stage, wrapped in the Israeli flag, and make sure the world hears our story.”

A year ago, she lay in silence as terrorists tried to erase her. Now, she will make sure her voice is heard by millions.

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