‘A Woman is Not a Body or a Face’: Israel Ends Participation in ‘Miss Universe’ Pageant
The Miss Israel beauty contest was cancelled this year, ending the country’s participation in the international Miss Universe competition.
By United with Israel Staff
Last week, organizers of the Miss Israel contest announced that the beauty pageant will not be held this year, meaning no contestant would be sent to the annual Miss Universe contest, which will be staged in the U.S. in January 2023.
“People change, [and] the world changes,” commented Miss Israel 1998, Linor Abargil, who is now an attorney and practices Orthodox Judaism, in an Instagram post. “A woman is not a body or a face and no one in the world has the right to criticize us, or to assess our weight to see if it matches what is going on in the market,” she added, according to a Times of Israel report.
While Miss Israel 1976, Rina Messinger, won the the Miss Universe pageant, Abergil took home the title of Miss World in 1998. The most famous Miss Israel internationally is movie star Gal Gadot, who won in 2004 and went on to a succesful career in Hollywood.
Abargil’s sentiments about winding down the contest were echoed by another past winner of the contest quoted by the Times, Sivan Klein. Conversely, former Miss Israel 2019, Sella Sharlin, thought the contest could have been reformed.
The Miss Israel competition did not provide a reason for the contest’s cancellation, or indicate if it might be brought back at any point, announcing simply, “We will not participate in the Miss Universe contest this year.”
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