Image by courtesy of jcrc

Israeli beauty queen Yityish “Titi” Aynaw seemed completely at ease as she mingled with the assembled guests on Tuesday evening on the penthouse balcony with breathtaking views of south Manhattan. Dozens of handsome and stylish Jewish twenty to forty somethings hovered around her, trying to get her attention, whisper in her ear, take a photo with her, touch the stardust that seemed to surround her.

Aynaw willingly shakes the outstretched hands, laughs at the offered jokes and attempted one-liners, touches people’s shoulders, even hugs them, when they make a move. She conducts herself with a poise and self-confidence that belies the fact that she is in America for the first time in her life.

“I am not putting on an act,” she says, “I was head of the student council in my high school, I commanded over 90 soldiers in the army. You get a lot of experience, and with the experience comes the self-confidence.”

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It is this self-confidence – along with her statuesque beauty, her direct, no-nonsense talk, and her extraordinary life story – that makes Aynaw a potential hasbara blockbuster, a potent projection of Israel’s good side, that far outstrips anything that any Israeli politician or diplomat can come up with.

“I know that I project a good image of Israel,” she says, “but I don’t ‘do’ hasbara. I tell my story, what my life has been like, that’s all.”

For more go to Haaretz

Miss Israel, center, with Sharri Berg of the JCRC, and FoxNews anchorwoman Harris Faul. Image by jcrc

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