Yuval Raphael, Israel’s 2025 Eurovision contestant, received the United Hatzalah Hero Award at the organization’s Los Angeles annual gala on Wednesday, which was presented to her by Gal Gadot.
Raphael, a survivor of the Nova music festival massacre by Hamas on October 7, sang “New Day Will Rise,” an anthem of resilience, in the song contest last May and won the audience voting, placing second overall. Her triumph was especially notable in the face of the open hostility she received from anti-Israel groups on and off stage.
“Wow, I don’t know if I can speak. I feel like I’m going to cry. I want to say, thank you so much for this moment, really. I would love to sing for you,” said Raphael, wiping away tears. She sang the song “Rescue,” which received thunderous applause and cheers from the audience. A clip of her Eurovision performance was also shown.
The event brought together the Los Angeles pro-Israel philanthropic community to raise funds for medical supplies and to train volunteers for United Hatzalah, Israel’s largest volunteer emergency medical service.
Gal Gadot praised the organization, saying, “Jews, Muslims, Christians, men, and women, rush out at a moment’s notice to save the lives of complete strangers. They don’t ask who you are, where you’re from, or what you believe. They simply respond, and they do it all for free. When I am back home in Israel, I often see those flashes of orange vests racing by me on ambucycles. To most people, it is an orange blur. But to someone in need, it is the most important sight in the world. Because it means United Hatzalah is seconds away.”
Raphael and Gadot 'two Israeli heroes'
Eli Beer, the president and founder of United Hatzalah, said, “What an incredible night it was for United Hatzalah in Los Angeles. It was truly inspiring to see Gal Gadot present the Hero Award to Yuval Raphael, two real Israeli heroes in one room. Yuval’s bravery is so inspiring to the people of Israel and the entire world. Every person who joined us last night helped ensure that our volunteers in Israel can continue responding in seconds to save lives.”
The gala was chaired by business leaders Rick Caruso and Sunny Sassoon. The evening honored Shaun Maguire of Sequoia Capital with the Am Yisrael Award for his steadfast and outspoken support of Israel.
Ryan Marciano, the Gala Young Leadership Chair, has been involved with United Hatzalah for a few years, promoting and supporting its mission. The event’s corporate sponsor was Greenberg Traurig Law. The evening raised critical funds to help United Hatzalah train new medics, psychotrauma response specialists, and purchase essential medical equipment and emergency vehicles, enabling its volunteers to respond to more than 800,000 emergencies each year, free of charge to patients.
United Hatzalah of Israel operates the world’s leading fully volunteer emergency medical service. With over 8,000 EMTs, medics, paramedics, and doctors, the organization delivers free, lifesaving care with a response time goal of 90 seconds.