Israel selects song ‘New Day Will Rise’ for Eurovision performance

Israeli public broadcaster Kan revealed on Monday that the country’s Eurovision song entry will be “New Day Will Rise”, a ballad written by the same songwriter behind last year’s winning entry “Hurricane.”

The new song, which will be performed by Eurovision entrant Yuval Raphael at the competition in Switzerland in May, is due for official release by Kan on 9 March. It reportedly contains lyrics in English, French and Hebrew and features verses from the Song of Songs, a biblical poem.

“New Day Will Rise” was written by Keren Peles, the writer of Israel’s Eurovision song choice in 2024, which was performed by Eden Golan and took fifth place in the competition, with musical arrangement and production by Tomer Biran.

A group of songwriters have reportedly accused Kan of giving Peles preferential treatment for having her songs chosen two years in a row and serving as a judge on the Israeli singing competition show that selected Raphael.

According to the Times of Israel, Kan rejected the accusations and said the song selection process was carried out blindly, unanimously chosen by the Israeli Eurovision selection committee and approved by the European Broadcasting Union.

Raphael, who was selected to be the Eurovision performer for Israel in January when she won the Israeli talent competition HaKokhav HaBa or ‘Rising Star’, is scheduled to perform in the second half of the second semi-final on 15 May 15, which will be broadcasted across KAN’s platforms.

The 24-year-old singer is a survivor of the Nova music festival; she said she stayed alive by hiding amidst the piles of dead bodies inside a roadside bomb shelter until the IDF arrived after a grueling eight hours and was one of just 12 out of 50 to emerge alive.