Netanyahu hosts Eurovision winner, does a chicken dance duet

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed Eurovision winner Netta Barzilai to the official residence Wednesday, and joined her in doing her iconic chicken dance.

Netanyahu greeted the singer with, “Kapara alayich,” which was Barzilai’s blessing to her fans at the end of each performance. In colloquial Hebrew, it is a pet name meaning “darling” or “sweetie.”

Barzilai gave the prime minister and his wife a chicken-shaped lollipop each, in honor of her winning song, “Toy,” affectionately known as the chicken song, for the vocal sounds the singer makes and her signature dance moves.

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“She’s talented, she’s sweet and she brought us glory,” Netanyahu said of Barzilai.

During a video of the meeting, Netanyahu joined Barzilai’s father in doing the chicken moves made famous by Barzilai.

Netanyahu had already been captured on film flapping his arms on his way to a cabinet meeting on Sunday, and he posted another video of himself flapping away with Netta on Wednesday.

On Saturday night, Barzilai clucked and bucked her way through “Toy,” a catchy ditty that had been the bookmakers’ favorite to win for weeks before the international contest in Portugal.

Israel’s victory, its first since 1998, means it wins the right to host next year’s finals, which, in the intervening decades, have transformed into a massive extravaganza with two rounds, tens of thousands of fans, and millions more tuning in around the world.

Barzilai’s win came on Jerusalem Day, when the country celebrates the anniversary of the reunification of its capital following 1967’s Six Day War. It was also the day before the United States was to relocate its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.