‘Darkness Will Fade’: Yuval Raphael Sings in Israel’s Eurovision Entry, ‘New Day Will Rise’

The song is mostly in English, with a verse in French and a line in Hebrew, quoting from Jewish scripture: ‘Vast floods cannot quench love, nor rivers drown it.’

By Philissa Cramer, JTA

Israel has released the video for “New Day Will Rise,” its entry to the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest that focuses on the theme of emerging from darkness.

In the video, Yuval Raphael, selected as the country’s representative for the annual contest, sings in a field of red anemones, Israel’s national flower, after connecting with a crowd of young people who are reminiscent of the attendees of the Nova music festival where Hamas killed more than 380 people on Oct. 7, 2023. Raphael survived the massacre.

“New day will rise, life will go on / Everyone cries, don’t cry alone / Darkness will fade, all the pain will go by / But we will stay,” belts Raphael, with lyrics that could reflect both personal and national determination.

The song is mostly in English, with a verse in French and a line in Hebrew, quoting from Jewish scripture: “Vast floods cannot quench love, nor rivers drown it.”

The song has passed muster with Eurovision, which last year sent back Israel’s entry for revision after it was deemed overly political.

The contest takes place in May in Basel, Switzerland, and will feature at least one Jewish entrant other than Raphael — Asaf Mishiyev, a member of the Azerbaijani band Mamagama.

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