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Newly Crowned Miss Israel Melanie Shiraz Discusses Prep for Miss Universe Pageant, Not Being Bothered by ‘Haters’
Melanie Shiraz being crowned Miss Israel 2025. Photo: Simon Soong | Edgar Entertainment
The newly crowned Miss Universe Israel 2025 Melanie Shiraz talked to The Algemeiner on Monday about preparations for the Miss Universe pageant in November, hostility and hateful comments she’s faced from Israel haters, and how she’s settling into her new title.
The Israel native was crowned on Thursday night at the Hilton Miami Aventura Hotel in Florida. The 26-year-old competed as “Miss Caesarea” and succeeds Miss Universe Israel 2024 Ofir Korsia. Shiraz will go on to represent Israel at the international Miss Universe pageant in Thailand in November.
“I think I’m processing it a little bit more,” she told The Algemeiner on Monday. “I was pretty stunned for the first few days and now I’m kind of in strategy mode. I’m trying to figure out what projects I want to line up for the coming weeks and months.”
Shiraz also said she is beginning to strategize what organizations she wants to work with, both in and out of the Jewish community, and what kind of impact she wants to have as the new Miss Universe Israel.
When asked how she feels representing Israel in an international arena like the Miss Universe pageant, she replied, “I think especially now, because it’s a time of hostility and war, this is exactly why we need to be represented.” She said it would be a “travesty” for Israel not to seize this opportunity and represent itself proudly in front of the international community.
“This is a platform we can use to show the world who we are,” she explained. “As women, we are diverse, brilliant, beautiful. We have so much potential. We are kind, graceful. And it’s something that I want to show the world. I want to make sure that the way that I represent Israel is one that will make people who are already antagonistic or have animosity, reconsider. And that might be the international audience, and it might even be my fellow contestants, who might have some antagonism towards me.”
“I want to introduce myself as Melanie, and for them to get to know me, and see me as a kind person, and that I don’t have animosity towards them,” Shiraz added. “And maybe then they’ll realize if I’m an extension of Israel, maybe Israelis are not what they thought they were.”
Both of Shiraz’s parents were born in Israel. The last name Shiraz hails from her mother’s side of the family. The beauty queen said a distant family member, far back in her mother’s lineage, was from Shiraz, the southcentral city in Iran, and that’s where the name stems from. Shiraz was born in Israel but moved with her family to the US when she was young. She remained in the States until she finished her studies at the University of California, Berkeley in 2020. She then moved back to Israel and has been living in the Jewish state for roughly four or five years. “I was just so eager to come back to Israel,” she said.
Shiraz currently lives in Tel Aviv, though she is traveling to the US a lot more now since being crowned Miss Universe Israel. She competed in the Miss Israel competition as Miss Caesarea because “Miss Tel Aviv” was already taken by a fellow contestant. Shiraz said she ultimately chose to compete wearing the sash of Caesarea because it’s one of her favorite places in Israel and is historic and beautiful – which she thinks represents Israel perfectly.
From Berkeley, Shiraz has a degree in data science and another degree in interdisciplinary field studies, centered around Israel, Israeli politics, and social sciences. She was vice president of Chabad at the school, briefly vice president of the Jewish Student Union, was involved in Hillel, and helped arrange pro-Israel protests and counterprotests.
As soon as she graduated Berkeley, Shiraz started her career as a data scientist, working with a financial technology startup. She later co-founded a fintech startup in London that was offered a payment processing solution for small businesses. She worked on it for two years but left that company once the Israel-Hamas war started on Oct. 7, 2023, because she wanted to be in Israel with her family and it was hard to run a startup remotely. She later moved on to work remotely and do strategic consulting as a data scientist for another fintech company in New York.
One of Shiraz’s best friends, 25-year-old IDF Staff Sgt. Yonatan Dean Chaim, died in December while fighting in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas war.
She said she has been dealing with hostility from anti-Israel activists since her time at Berkeley and also faces the same on social media, where she is very active and posts often in support of Israel. Since being crowned Miss Universe Israel, Shiraz said, “I’ve seen a lot of pro-‘Palestine’ and hateful comments but it doesn’t bother me.”
“I’m not here to fight the haters,” she noted. “I’m here to show the world who I am and who Israel is, and [I] hope to change their minds with my actions and not with my words.”
Edgar Saakyan, national director of Miss Universe Israel, praised Shiraz in a statement given to The Algemeiner on Monday.
“Beyond beauty, we were looking for a candidate who brings real substance to the role — someone with qualities that can contribute meaningfully to the country. Melanie Shiraz is confident, intelligent, and socially conscious. She represents a new generation that is not only elegant, but also thoughtful and globally aware,” Saakyan said. “I believe she will represent Israel with grace and purpose on the Miss Universe stage.”
“Our goal in organizing beauty pageants is to prepare future ambassadors of goodwill and peace,” he added. “Pageantry is a platform for building bridges across industries and cultures. I’m grateful to our judges for recognizing these values and for making a choice that reflects the spirit of our mission.”
The post Newly Crowned Miss Israel Melanie Shiraz Discusses Prep for Miss Universe Pageant, Not Being Bothered by ‘Haters’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Pounds Gaza City Suburbs, Vows to Press on with Offensive
Smoke rises following an Israeli strike, in Gaza City, August 24, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Israeli planes and tanks pounded the eastern and northern outskirts of Gaza City overnight Saturday to Sunday, destroying buildings and homes, residents said, as Israeli leaders vowed to press on with a planned offensive on the city.
Witnesses reported the sound of explosions non-stop overnight in the areas of Zeitoun and Shejaia, while tanks shelled houses and roads in the nearby Sabra neighborhood and several buildings were blown up in the northern town of Jabalia.
Fire lit the skies from the direction of the explosions, causing panic, prompting some families to stream out of the city. Others said they would prefer to die and not leave.
The Israeli military said on Sunday that its forces have returned to combat in the Jabalia area in recent days, to dismantle militant tunnels and strengthen control of the area.
It added that the operation there “enables the expansion of combat into additional areas and prevents Hamas terrorists from returning to operate in these areas.”
Israel approved a plan this month to seize control of Gaza City, describing it as the last bastion of Hamas. It is not expected to begin for a few weeks, leaving room for mediators Egypt and Qatar to try and resume ceasefire talks.
Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz on Sunday vowed to press on with the offensive on the city where famine has been declared, which has raised alarm abroad and objections at home. Katz has said that Gaza City will be razed unless Hamas agrees to end the war on Israel’s terms and release all hostages.
Hamas said in a statement on Sunday that Israel’s plan to take over Gaza City showed it wasn’t serious about a ceasefire.
It said a ceasefire agreement was “the only way to return the hostages,” holding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responsible for their lives.
The proposal on the table calls for a 60-day ceasefire and the release of 10 living hostages held in Gaza and of 18 bodies. In turn, Israel would release about 200 long-serving Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Once a temporary ceasefire begins, the proposal is for Hamas and Israel to begin negotiations on a permanent ceasefire that would include the return of the remaining hostages.
On Thursday, Netanyahu said that Israel would immediately resume negotiations for the release of all 50 hostages – of whom Israel believes around 20 are still living – and an end to the nearly two-year-old war but on terms acceptable to Israel.
‘HUNGRY AND AFRAID’
Around half of the enclave’s two million people currently live in Gaza City. A few thousand have already left, carrying their belongings on vehicles and rickshaws.
“I stopped counting the times I had to take my wife and three daughters and leave my home in Gaza City,” said Mohammad, 40, via a chat app. “No place is safe, but I can’t take the risk. If they suddenly begin the invasion, they will use heavy fire.”
Others said they will not leave, no matter what.
“We are not leaving, let them bomb us at home,” said Aya, 31, who has a family of eight, adding that they couldn’t afford to buy a tent or pay for the transportation, even if they did try to leave. “We are hungry, afraid and don’t have money.”
A global hunger monitor said on Friday that Gaza City and surrounding areas are officially suffering from famine that will likely spread. Israel has rejected the assessment and says it ignores steps it has taken since late July to increase aid.
The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led gunmen burst into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and taking 251 hostages.
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Iran Signals Willingness to Scale Back Uranium Enrichment to Ease Tensions
Atomic symbol and USA and Iranian flags are seen in this illustration taken, September 8, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
i24 News – Iran may be prepared to significantly reduce its uranium enrichment levels in a bid to stave off renewed UN sanctions and limit the risk of further strikes by Israel and the United States, according to a report published Sunday in The Telegraph.
Citing Iranian sources, the paper said Tehran is considering lowering enrichment from 60% to 20%.
The move is reportedly being championed by Ali Larijani, the newly appointed secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, who is holding talks with regime leaders.
“Larijani is trying to convince the system to reduce the level of enrichment in order to avoid further war,” a senior Iranian official told the paper.
The proposal, however, faces stiff resistance from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which has long opposed concessions on the nuclear program. Still, the report suggests Iran’s leadership may be open to greater flexibility, including the possibility of reviving engagement with Western powers.
Last month, i24NEWS reported exclusively that a delegation from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is expected to travel to Iran. The team of technical experts would seek to resume monitoring of nuclear sites, inspections that have been heavily restricted in recent years.
The development comes amid mounting regional tensions and could represent a critical turning point in the long-running nuclear standoff.
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Major Brush Fire Erupts Near Jerusalem, Evacuations Underway
A view of the new Tel Aviv-Jerusalem fast train seen over the HaArazim Valley (“Valley of Cedars”) just outside of Jerusalem, Sept. 25, 2018. Photo: Yossi Zamir/Flash90.
i24 News – A large brush fire broke out Sunday in the Cedars Valley area, near Route 1 and the Motza interchange, prompting an emergency response from Jerusalem district fire services. Several water-bombing planes were dispatched, and authorities have declared a “fire emergency.”
As a precaution, residents of Mevaseret Zion are being evacuated. Access to the town from Route 1 has already been blocked, and officials are weighing a full closure of the major highway.
Fire crews from the Ha’uma station are on site working to contain the flames, while motorists in the area are urged to heed traffic updates and follow instructions from emergency services.
Eight firefighting aircraft are currently operating above the blaze in support of ground teams. The fire comes amid one of the hottest, driest summers on record, with conditions fueling a series of destructive wildfires across the country.
Officials warn the situation remains critical, as the blaze threatens a vital transportation corridor leading into Jerusalem.