Thousands celebrate Netta Barzilai’s Eurovision win in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square

Thousands of Israeli revellers gathered in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square to sing and dance the night away, after Netta Barzilai won the Eurovision song contest.

Celebrations went on long into into the early hours of Sunday morning – with partygoers chanting renditions of Netta’s song ‘Toy’ and Queen’s famous anthem ‘We Are The Champions’.

Tel Aviv’s municipality building was lit up with a the ‘Netta’, a heart and the Israeli flag –  while in Jerusalem, thousands took to the famous Mahane Yehuda Market to celebrate.

News Editor Justin Cohen, who was in Tel Aviv to witness the celebrations  described  how he “planned to get a taxi from my hotel but was told there was simply too much traffic as people continued to pour into the square from all angles and by all means; whether by car, scooter or on foot.”

After her winning moment, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated Netta and indicated that the festival next year will be hosted in Jerusalem.

“You have brought the State of Israel a lot pride. Next year in Jerusalem!” wrote Netanyahu on Twitter to Netta.

Israelis sing Netta’s victorious song in Rabin Square: 

Israel’s song, which was performed in English, has consistently been ranked on betting sites in first place or at least in the top three at the Eurovision.

The score was determined by points given by the contest’s official juries and by callers. “Toy” won the match with a combined score of 529 points, giving is a huge lead of 93 points over Cyprus, which came second and a 187-point lead on Austria in third place. The score for Toy was the fourth-highest in the contest’s history.