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Israel cancels national Miss Universe pageant 

by Izel Abanilla

For the first time in seven decades, Israel will not be sending a representative to the 70th Miss Universe pageant set to be held in the US this coming January 2023. 

On Tuesday, the Miss Israel administration announced that it will not be participating in the pageant this year. 

Israel’s local media The Times of Israel has reported that people in their country are weighing whether pageants still have relevance to their citizens. 

Ironically, the statement was made only a year after the city of Eilat hosted last year’s pageant where India’s Harnaaz Sandhu was crowned. Philippines’ Beatrice Gomez represented the country in the competition making it to the Top 5. 

Among the personalities who backed the pageant’s cancellation was Israeli beauty queen Sivan Klein who represented the country in the 2003 global competition.

“Queen Elizabeth has died, and now the beauty queen contest is buried. Definitely not a time to be a queen, but maybe it’s a slightly better time to be a woman,” she said. 

Miss Israel 1998 Linor Abargil who’s now both a lawyer and an actress likewise believes it is time to end the pageant.

“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!” Abargil said. 

“Wonder Woman” star Gal Gadot was once crowned Miss Israel in 2004. 

For this year, the Philippines will be represented by Filipino-Italian beauty Celeste Cortesi who will try to take home the fifth crown for the country. 

Photo courtesy: Miss Universe Facebook

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