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Five Reasons Israel’s Eurovision Song Was One of the Best
Yuval Raphael from Israel with the title “New Day Will Rise” on stage at the second semi-final of the 69th Eurovision Song Contest in the Arena St. Jakobshalle. Photo: Jens Büttner/dpa via Reuters Connect
Yuval Raphael’s majestic performance of the song “New Day Will Rise” earned Israel second place in the famed Eurovision competition that took place over the weekend in Switzerland. Here are the five reasons why the song placed so high:
1. Raphael’s voice: Raphael was vocally flawless, beginning the song in a soft tone, and building gradually until belting out the chorus with some raspiness thrown in and perfectly navigated trills.
2. Versatility: Raphael performed the song beginning in English, going to a bit of French, and throwing in some of her native Hebrew, and sounded authentic and on point in all languages.
3. Well-Constructed Song: The lyrics were powerful beginning with “And even if you say goodbye, you’ll never go away/ you are the rainbows in my sky my colors in the grey …”
In contrast to the melancholy verse, the chorus is uplifting: “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 even if you say goodbye.”
While it is understood the lyrics refer to the attack of October 7, there is no specific reference to it and the song has universal appeal to resonate with people upset about any conflict or any loss.
4. Performed With Great Poise Despite Hate From Antisemites: Even if one doesn’t like Israel, to boo or have jeers against Raphael, who survived the attack at the Nova Festival on October 7, shows someone has no class.
CNN outdid itself, managing to show anti-Israel bias in a music article, as its writer Rob Picheta wrote that Israel was the 20th best song (despite placing second). He called Hamas a “militant” group rather than a terrorist group. Rather than give the song an iota of credit, he wrote that the song is weaker than last year’s by Eden Golan. I disagree. But the point is in his “analysis” of 26 songs by respective countries, only did Israel get such a critique that it was musically worse than the previous year. Raphael was unfazed by the haters — she carried on amazingly despite the pressure and the harassment, and it’s a credit to what Raphael is made of.
5. Emotional Impact: A majority of the Eurovision songs were dance tracks that were instantly forgettable. Besides having a powerful voice, Raphael’s delivery made the audience feel an emotional connection. The song is easily relatable, and Raphael’s vocals made me cry. A quick look at YouTubers evaluating her song showed people from different countries all agreeing on the song’s emotional resonance and power.
Should Israel have won Eurovision? Obviously, I think so — but I also would have been surprised if there was a fair result. Austria took first place with “Wasted Love” by JJ More, which I didn’t like. The song that came in third, “Espresso Macchiato,” would have been well suited for “Saturday Night live” but not any real music competition. Ukraine’s “Bird of Pray” by Ziferblat deserved much higher than ninth place.
It was great to see Israel once again stand out for artistry, creativity, and musical excellence, and while it should have taken the top spot, second place in such a competition is extremely impressive.
The author is a writer based in New York.
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UK Police Arrest 55 at Parliament Rally for Banned Palestine Action Group
A detained demonstrator sits inside a police van, following a protest in support of the Palestine Action group in Parliament Square in London, Britain, July 19, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Isabel Infantes
Fifty-five people were arrested at a rally for the banned Palestine Action group outside Britain’s parliament on Saturday, London’s Metropolitan Police said.
The crowd in Parliament Square had been waving placards supporting the group that was banned this month under anti-terrorism legislation, the force said in a post on X.
People from the rally, some wearing black and white Palestinian scarves, were taken away in police vans.
British lawmakers proscribed the group earlier this month after some of its members broke into a Royal Air Force base and damaged planes in protest against Britain’s support for Israel.
Membership of Palestine Action now carries a prison sentence of up to 14 years.
The group has called the decision “authoritarian,” and a challenge to the ban will be heard at London’s High Court on Monday.
Palestine Action is among groups that have regularly targeted defense firms and other companies in Britain linked to Israel since the start of the conflict in Gaza.
Police have arrested scores of the group’s supporters at rallies across Britain since the ban came in
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US Says Attack on West Bank Palestinian Church Was ‘Act of Terror’
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee looks on during the day he visits the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem’s Old City, April 18, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee called on Saturday for the perpetrators of an attack on a Palestinian church in the West Bank blamed on Israeli settlers to be prosecuted, calling it an “act of terror.”
Huckabee said he had visited the Christian town of Taybeh, where clerics said Israeli settlers had started a fire near a cemetery and a 5th-century church on July 8.
“It is an act of terror, and it is a crime,” Huckabee said in a statement, “Those who carry out acts of terror and violence in Taybeh – or anywhere – (should) be found and be prosecuted. Not just reprimanded, that’s not enough.”
Israel’s government has not commented on the incident, but has previously denounced such acts.
On Tuesday, Huckabee said he had asked Israel to “aggressively investigate” the killing of a Palestinian American beaten by settlers in the West Bank, similarly describing it as a “criminal and terrorist act.”
Huckabee is a staunch supporter of Israeli settlements and his comments are a rare and pointed public intervention by the administration of US President Donald Trump.
Trump in January rescinded sanctions imposed by the former Biden administration on Israeli settler groups and individuals accused of being involved in violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
Settler attacks on Palestinians and Palestinian attacks on Israelis in the West Bank have risen since the start of Israel’s war on the Hamas terror group in Gaza in October 2023, though violence has long simmered there.
The United Nations’ highest court said last year that Israel’s settlements in territories it captured in the 1967 Middle East war, including the West Bank, were illegal.
Israel disputes this, citing biblical and historical ties to the land as well as security needs.
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Israel and Syria Agree to Ceasefire, US Envoy Tom Barrack Announces
US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and US Special Envoy Keith Kellogg attend the Turkey-US-Ukraine trilateral talks in Istanbul, Turkey, May 16, 2025. Photo: Arda Kucukkaya/Turkish Foreign Ministry/Handout via REUTERS
i24 News – Israeli and Syrian leaders have agreed to a ceasefire, US envoy to Turkey and Syria Tom Barrack announced on the X platform.
Earlier in the week Israel launched an air campaign in Syria aimed to protect Syrian Druze — part of a minority that also has followers in Lebanon and Israel.
Barrack said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, with the mediation of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, agreed to a ceasefire “embraced” by Turkey, Jordan and other unidentified neighbors.
There is no immediate comment from Netanyahu’s office or the Syrian Presidency.
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