Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Yuval Raphael, Israel's representative to the 2025 Eurovision on Wednesday to congratulate her on winning second place in the competition.

"Shalom Yuval, you sound excellent and you sounded excellent there. You have brought so much honor and pride to our country. After what you went through, fighting for your life in a shelter, and now representing all of our lives. Those abhorrent murderers – they are the ones in shelters now, and we will complete the job," the prime minister told Raphael.

"What you did there Yuval, you lifted up Israel's profile among the nations, and when you stood there, with your hands, and said 'Am Yisrael chai' - it shook all of our hearts. Congratulations, you are marvelous."

Yuval Raphael responded: "All I wanted was to bring honor to this country. To bring them a second, a moment of peace in all the turmoil that is happening here. I very much hope that someone got a small moment of peace from this. To me, the most important thing in the world was to bring as much honor as I could. The most important thing is that our hostages will return home and be here with us, to be happy with us and to recover."

The 2025 Eurovision stage at St Jakobshalle, Basel. Photo credit: Alma Bangtsson | EBU

The prime minister said, "We are working on this very hard, and you have added much strength. I will tell you something else – you were the true winner there. Statistically, this is the simple truth. You entered the hearts of a huge public in Europe. You did something that is important from all possible aspects, and I think you will remember it, and we will remember it, for many years. In effect, for the rest of your life, and I'm sure you will be remembered even beyond that."

"This is no small thing. Such an outstanding achievement at the age of 24. Congratulations."