Tel Aviv, Israel - This week, the Eurovision Song Contest is being held in Basel, Switzerland. The world's largest song contest includes contestants representing 37 countries - including Israel, whose existence sparked protests due to the war in Gaza.

Israel’s representative in the competition, 24-year-old Yuval Raphael, will play the popular ballad “The Rise of the New Days”, a song that reflects the response and hope after loss and tragedy, with the lyrics including “Life will continue, everyone cry, don’t cry.”

Raphael has a direct personal connection to the song because she is a survivor on October 7, 2023, a Hamas-led attack on Israel. That morning, Raphael danced with friends at the Nova Music Festival, not far from the Israeli-Gaza border, which was infiltrated by armed Hamas militants who killed 378 civilians at the party’s grounds. Raphael and her friends fled to a small shelter near the dance floor, but Hamas Fighters found the shelter, entered the shelter, and repeatedly opened fire on those hiding.

Raphael plays death under the body of others and survives. Rescuers only arrived a few hours later, during which time many young people were killed in the shelter.

She later told the UN Human Rights Commission: "Only I and 10 others were saved from our 4 square meter shelter, a shelter that became the grave for nearly 40 souls seeking asylum. The physical harm I suffered was healed, but the mental scars will always be with me."

Now, a year and seven months later, Raphael is preparing to participate in the Eurovision stage and is eligible for Saturday's finals this week. However, participation in Israel’s competition is common. Broadcasters from Ireland, Spain, Slovenia and Belgium have approached the European Broadcasting Alliance with the organization responsible for producing Eurovision and asked for discussions on Israel's inclusion earlier this month.

Ireland-based public broadcaster RTé announced that it has received a clear commitment from EBU to "conduct a wider discussion in due course". This is the first time that the EBU has shown that it opens up discussions about the possibility of withdrawing Israel from competition.

Eurovision organizers are aware of the tensions in Israel’s participation this year and have made some changes to the rules. Until last year, the competition prohibited the display of flags of countries that did not participate in the competition. This has led to protests not being able to wave the Palestinian flag. Now, audiences are allowed to wave any flag that does not violate Swiss law.

However, EBU clarified that no political expression will be allowed on the stage. This is designed to prevent a situation like last year when Portuguese singer designed a painting of nail performances with keffiyeh.

Israel Delegation Director Yoav Tzafir prepares for Raphael as the audience will boo her during Saturday's performance. This happened last year, when Eden Golan represented Israel on Eurovision, the song "Hurricane". Golan was booed a lot during the show but still ranked fifth. She was protected by Israeli intelligence personnel and wore a blonde wig as a disguise during the week of the game.

Tzafir told NPR that he prepared a recording of the boo for Raphael, who played in the car while practicing the performance. “So, she was practicing for two months,” Tzafir said. "I'm not kidding, singing with boo because if she practices, it won't bother her."

He said: "Last Sunday, we had an incident near the red carpet. Sure, there were demonstrations and the flags of (Palestinians), but one of the protesters tilted his throat to our guys, which was not good. Of course, we complained to the police that we would see the freedom of these people when we were looking for these people. They just hope we were dead."

William Lee Adams, a popular founder European TV BlogHe said that despite the tension in the Gaza war, he believes the atmosphere this year is calmer than last year.

He said: "Switzerland is famously neutral, and on the ground you do find people very willing to discuss political situations, but in a civil manner. I hope (Raphael) hasn't booed - because for her it was not only uncomfortable for her, but for other contestants."

It has won four championships since Israel began participating in Eurovision in 1973, ranking seventh in overall victory. Despite the strong opposition and controversy involved this year, Raphael is currently ranked sixth in betting odds. Her final spot is only known after Saturday night’s Grand Finals, when she will compete with 24 performers from other countries, all in next year’s competition.

NPR's Daniel Estrin contributed to the report from Tel Aviv.