The Duke of Cambridge meets Israel's Eurovision queen
Fans of both the singer and the British prince brave the heat to catch a glimpse of royalty.
By TAMARA ZIEVEUpdated: JUNE 27, 2018 20:54Prince William (L) meets Eurovision winner Netta Barzilai (R) on Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv, June 27, 2018(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Prince William paid a visit to Tel Aviv’s popular Rothschild Boulevard on Wednesday morning where he met Eurovision Song Contest winner Netta Barzilai and had a drink at Tel Aviv’s iconic oldest kiosk, which today is a branch of the Espresso Bar chain.Locals who had been drinking coffee at the coffee shop were lucky enough to be allowed to stay in the tightly secured area, and to chat with the Duke of Cambridge.One of those, Yael, is a mother to a month-and-half-year-old baby, roughly the same age as William’s son, Prince Louis of Cambridge, a fact over which the two bonded as they discussed life as parents.Yael’s sister Yifat asked the prince how he was enjoying Israel and he responded by saying that the weather is amazing.”He is super nice, it was a very easygoing feeling. I felt very comfortable talking to him, he is very impressive,” Yifat gushed.Prince William and Netta Barzilai at Tel Aviv's iconic oldest kiosk, which today is a branch of the Espressobar, June 27, 2018.William also chatted with Etgar, the manager of the Espresso Bar, covering the well-trodden British topic of football and the weather. “He asked us how we like Tel Aviv and we said very much,” Edgar told The Jerusalem Post.Israelis, Brits and Americans waited for over an hour in the sweltering heat to catch a glimpse of the prince, and those standing in the right place at the right time earned a handshake from William. The crowd enthusiastically cheered and called out to the prince, including an excited Birthright group who shouted to him, “Taglit loves you.”William also received a short history lesson about the city from a tour guide and Barzilai gifted him a mini looper, her trademark instrument that she uses to record and playback her voice live on stage.Prince William and Netta Barzilai at Tel Aviv's iconic oldest kiosk, which today is a branch of the Espressobar, June 27, 2018.“You want me to be a singer?” William was overheard saying to Barzilai, who was donning a pink updo hairstyle. “You haven’t heard me sing – you wouldn’t want that!”
Kensington Palace tweeted after the meeting, “The Duke of Cambridge joined 2018 #Eurovision winner @NettaBarzilai on Rothschild Blvd. for Gazoz, a fizzy soft drink #Kaparaeleichem.”With that last hashtag Kensington Palace showed it had been keeping up with trends in Israel.After Barzilai won the Eurovision with her hit song “Toy,” the phrase of endearment “kapara aleich,” meaning “We love you,” was used repeatedly as a play on words connected with Barzilai’s famous chicken-clucking sounds.Kapara literally means “atonement,” and is the root behind the name of the Jewish kaparot ritual, which involves participants swinging chickens around their heads ahead of Yom Kippur in a ritual that centers on atoning for sins.But for all those pondering whether William would engage in some chicken dancing himself – as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did when he met Barzilai – the answer was no.
