After selecting Yuval Raphael through a televised program, Israel internally chose her song “New Day Will Rise.” Yuval Raphael will perform 14th in the second semifinal.

This is Yuval Raphael’s first released song with no previous music career. We actually really like the way the song sounds, and how it has a random verse in French, just because. It is a song about grief, about moving on after losing a loved one, about finding comfort and strength in community to make it through dark times. These themes generally fit very well into Eurovision’s “Love, Love, Peace, Peace” vibe. 

Yuval herself was at the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023. She hid in a bomb shelter with 50 people and was one of 11 survivors. For us, the personal experience and story behind the song does take the edge off a potentially more political entry. And while we don’t think Israel should be participating in Eurovision at all, we can still admire Yuval’s song about moving through grief and finding hope in a New Day.

On a lighter note, the music video is fun and sweet. We like how she somehow gets into a grassy field with a giant chandelier.

We don’t have too much more to say about this entry. If we lived in the apolitical vacuum that Eurovision claims to be, this song would probably be much higher on our list.