[3] For the second year in a row, Israel won with the song "Hallelujah", performed by the Israeli group Milk and Honey featuring Gali Atari.

The Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA) staged the contest at the Menachem Ussishkin auditorium of the International Convention Centre, also called Binyenei HaUma in Jerusalem, following its win at the 1978 edition with the song "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" performed by Izhar Cohen and Alphabeta.

The venue, inside the largest convention center in the Middle East, seats an audience of 3,104 and traditionally hosts other musical events.

[5] Since Israeli Television had yet to broadcast in colour at that point (except for a few special occasions), the production had to borrow cameras from the BBC – the same had happened when RTÉ had hosted the 1971 contest in Dublin.

On stage there was a moving symbol which was based on the IBA logo (which was built like a lamp with 3 concentric rings) using a small projected model.

[11] The event showcased stage decorations of several types of flora which represent the Land of Israel, and a film of Jerusalem's varied ancient, modern and religious scenery.

The left side of the stage where the presentation was held, was decorated with prickly pear cactus, date, pomegranate, and orange plants.

The group performed on a background of illustrations created by Dudu Geva and Yochanan Lakitzevitz, that featured landmarks and typical landscapes of the respective countries.

Importantantly, due to a misunderstanding by the presenter Yardena Arazi, Spain appeared to award 10 points to both Portugal and Israel and these scores were added to the scoreboard.

Broadcasters were able to send commentators to provide coverage of the contest in their own native language and to relay information about the artists and songs to their television viewers.