Israel will once again bring to the Eurovision Festival the brutal attacks by Hamas and other Islamist groups on October 7, 2023, which claimed the lives of over 1,200 people and triggered a devastating military offensive by the Israeli state in Gaza, resulting in the destruction of the Strip and the deaths of at least 47,000 residents. This is the consequence of choosing singer Yuval Raphael (24 years old) as the country's representative in the upcoming edition of the world's most popular song contest, to be held in Switzerland in May.
Not only because Raphael is one of the survivors who fortunately managed to escape the terrorist attack on that day of infamy. But also because, following what happened last year with the participation of Eden Golan in the competition, the new flag bearer made it clear upon being chosen that her intention is to use her Eurovision participation to once again tell the world "the story of her country, of what happened to her and to others," referring to the worst attacks in the nation's history.
Regardless of the European Broadcasting Union's (EBU) principles for Eurovision, which state that it is a competition where political matters are not welcome, Israel demonstrated its willingness to politicize it last year, and it seems that this trend will continue in 2025.
Yuval Raphael was with a group of friends on October 7th at the Nova Festival - an electronic music event on the outskirts of the small town of Re'im, a few kilometers from Gaza - where about 340 people were killed. Hundreds of people, both Israelis and of various nationalities, enjoying the festival's fame, when the venue was brutally attacked by dozens of Hamas militants. Raphael managed to survive by reaching a nearby air-raid shelter, where, like others, she had to hide and play dead under corpses of those who were not as lucky. An atrocious experience that she is trying to "heal through music," as she mentioned on Israeli public television.
Yuval Raphael won the final of HaKokhav Haba, the competition through which the KAN broadcaster selects its Eurovision representative each year. Up until the final gala, the clear favorite was Valerie Hamaty, a Christian Arab singer who had faced criticism from the most uncompromising sectors in recent weeks. On one hand, Muslim and Arab groups had been denouncing that Hamaty's candidacy aligned too closely with the Netanyahu government's narrative in the war; on the other hand, radical ultra-Orthodox Jews were shocked at the possibility of a non-Jewish artist representing the country in Switzerland.
In addition to Raphael, the eventual winner, another singer whose life was completely changed by October 7th participated in the final of HaKokhav Habakibbutz who lost his parents to the terrorists.
Israel's participation in Eurovision threatens to once again generate extraordinary controversy in the coming months. The precedent from last year is still fresh. Several countries' requests to the EBU - the network of public broadcasters organizing the contest - to exclude Israel from the competition during the Gaza war - and with an ongoing investigation at the International Criminal Court for possible violations of International Law - were unsuccessful.
However, Israel's participation was seriously threatened when KAN intended to compete with a song of unequivocal political content. The broadcaster challenged the EBU, even stating that they would not change a single word of the two songs presented, risking disqualification. "We have the right to sing about what we have been through," said Israel Katz, the Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs, who was outraged when October Rain - the initial version - was rejected, a decision that his cabinet colleague, the Minister of Culture, Miki Zohar, called "shameful."
The situation was resolved with the intervention of the Israeli President, Isaac Herzog, who ensured that his country would compete as usual. "It's not just about being right, but also about being smart. We are talking about public diplomacy, and I believe that it is important for Israel to appear in Eurovision, and this is also a statement precisely because there are many haters trying to expel us from every stage," said the president at the time.
Eden Golan ended up participating with Hurricane, a song that unmistakably continued to address the national trauma from October 7th, but did so using poetic subterfuges that passed the scrutiny of the EBU, which failed to skillfully manage the biggest crisis in the Festival's almost seven-decade history.
A similar tense situation could arise now. Even though Israel has its representative, the song they will compete with will not be revealed until March. "I want to tell our story, but not from a position seeking compassion, but from a position of strength [against horror] and against the boos that I am one hundred percent sure will come from the crowd in Switzerland," Yuval Raphael anticipated, confirming that controversy is more than guaranteed.
As Herzog's intervention showed, Israel's participation in Eurovision today is a matter of state, as it allows the country to remain on a platform of such significance alongside the bulk of European nations - its major allies in global geopolitics, not including the US - and also to portray it as a symbolic but significant triumph against those advocating for Palestinian claims.
Netanyahu's law threatening public television
However, the paradox is that Israel's continuity in Eurovision could be seriously jeopardized if the intentions of the Netanyahu government regarding the national Public Broadcasting Corporation progress. At the end of last year, the Communications Minister introduced a bill that, if approved, would seriously endanger both the entity's economic viability - even mentioning possible privatization - and the complete loss of the channel's independence to decide its content, which would be under total government supervision. The EBU itself issued a statement in November, warning about the serious consequences of the steps taken by Netanyahu's Cabinet. "We are deeply concerned about the legislation proposed by the Israeli government, which would allow them to change or cancel items in the public broadcasting budget, jeopardizing its editorial and financial independence."
If the proposed media law were to pass, Israel could be excluded from the EBU. Consequently, its withdrawal from the Eurovision Festival would be definitive.