First Black Miss Israel Scores Dinner With Barack Obama
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Yityish Aynaw, the first Miss Israel of Ethiopian descent, has been invited to meet President Obama at a dinner hosted by President Shimon Peres.
Aynaw, 21, who was crowned two weeks ago, reportedly was invited at the behest of Obama’s advance team, which is currently in Israel putting the finishing touches on plans for next week’s visit.
In interviews with the Israeli media on Wednesday, following her invitation, Aynaw called Obama an inspiration and a role model.
“For me, he is a role model who broke down barriers, a source of inspiration that proves that every person really can reach any height, regardless of their religion, race or gender,” she told the mass circulation Israeli daily Yediot Acharonot.
She told the Jerusalem Post that she thought she was invited to the dinner because she is “the first black Miss Israel to be chosen and [Obama] is the first black American president. These go together.”
Aynaw, who immigrated to Israel from Ethiopia with her grandparents at the age of 12, said in an interview Wednesday night with Israel’s Channel 2 that when she meets Obama that she will tell him he has been a role model, and that he should free Jonathan Pollard.
She told the interviewer that as head of her high school student council she worked on many projects to call for the release of Pollard, who is serving a life sentence for spying for Israel, from a U.S. prison. “If I have the opportunity, why not?” she said.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
