Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Kirel in a tweet, saying “Good job Noa Kirel, you’re phenomenal.”

“For us you’ll always be number one,” he added.

Kirel’s result is Israel’s best finish since 2018, when Netta Barzilai won the contest with her hit “Toy”. The latter was also present in Britain’s Liverpool, where this year’s competition was held instead of the war-torn Ukraine, and performed alongside other past Eurovision laureates at the grand final.

Loreen, whose real name is Lorine Talhaoui, became the first woman to win the competition twice and only the second person after Ireland’s Johnny Logan to achieve such a result. She narrowly triumphed over Finland’s Kaarija, who took second place.