Israeli Eurovision Star Yuval Raphael Receives Hero Award at United Hatzalah Gala

The Award Was Presented to Yuval By Actress Gal Gadot

LOS ANGELES – Yuval Raphael received the United Hatzalah Hero Award at the organization’s Los Angeles Annual Gala on September 18th, an event that brought together L.A.’s pro-Israel philanthropic community to raise funds for medical supplies and train volunteers for United Hatzalah, Israel’s largest volunteer emergency medical service. There were 1300 attendees, including hundreds at the young leadership afterparty.

Actress Gal Gadot presented United Hatzalah’s Hero Award to Yuval Raphael, the Israeli Eurovision contestant who finished second in this year’s competition, but first place with the popular vote.

Gal Gadot speaking at the United Hatzalah Los Angeles Gala

“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,” remarked actress Gal Gadot. “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.”

Sunny Sassoon, Rick Caruso, Gal Gadot, Yuval Raphael, Eli Beer and Mark Gerson

 Raphael received the award for her bravery on as a survivor from October 7 at the Nova Festival in Israel, and in recognition of her overcoming hostility from anti-Israel groups while competing in the international Eurovision event.

“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,” said Eli Beer, President and Founder of United Hatzalah.

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.

Eli Beer, Liana Maguire, Shaum Maguire, Mark Gerson and Sunny Sassoon

The Gala Young Leadership Chair was Ryan Marciano who is involved with United Hatzalah for a few years promoting and supporting the mission, Ryan also volunteered to DJ the afterparty into the early hour of the morning. 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, empowering its volunteers to respond to more than 800,000 emergencies each year, fully free of charge to patients.

Eli Beer and family with Gal Gadot and her husband Yaron Varsano

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.

For more information, email events@israelrescue.org or visit uhnygala.com.