Yarden Gerbi (in white)
Yarden Gerbi (in white)Reuters

Heads of state, ministers and Knesset members were quick to congratulate Israeli judoka Yarden Gerbi, who claimed Israel's first medal of the Olympic Games in Rio when she won bronze in the (Under 73kg) Judo competition.

President Reuven Rivlin on Tuesday evening spoke by telephone with Gerbi, telling her, “All the people here in Israel are excited together with you. We all held our breath and prayed for your success but at the end of the day the one who did it was you, you are simply our champion. Well done. Today you are our heroine.”

He asked that she pass on his wishes to colleagues on the Israeli team.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu congratulated Gerbi as well.

“Yarden, you did it! We are all proud of you,” he tweeted.

Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev, who met Gerbi minutes after she won the medal told her, “Yarden, you are great. You fought like a lioness, and we are proud of you from Rio to Israel. You brought us great pride and the Israeli flag is flying today thanks to you.”