Miss Israel Doron Matalan - Miss Universe 2014 Contestant
Doron Matalan's name means "gift" in both Hebrew and Greek; and Matalan is quite accomplished. She even served as a sergeant in the Northern Command of the Israeli army. Originally, it was not Matalan's idea to get involved with pageants. It was actually her aunt's and the Jewish Daily Forward wrote: Matalon told Ynet in 2014 that her aunt signed her up for the pageant without telling her. She felt that beauty pageants were pretty banal and superficial and even skipped the first audition. But after further pressure from her aunt, she relented. It's a good thing Matalan listened to her aunt.
A History Of Sexual Harassment
A few years ago, a man named Moshe Fuchs was convicted of sexually harassing Matalan and it was reported: In December 2011, Matalon gained national publicity after a sex segregation incident on a Jerusalem bus. She said a 45-year-old Haredi man demanded she move to the back of the bus, threatening her and calling her a prostitute, but she refused. The incident was covered extensively by the Israeli media, and she became a symbol of women's empowerment. Matalon pressed charges and the man was later convicted of sexually harassing her. Matalan was called a “prostitute” and “shikshe” when she wouldn't sit in the back of gender-segregated bus in Jerusalem.
Miss Israel Vs. Miss Lebanon
Recently, Miss Israel was in the media for a "photo-bombing selfie" with Miss Lebanon Saly Greige. Greige told Lebanon's Daily Star: From the first day I arrived at the Miss Universe pageant I was very careful not to take any pictures with Miss Israel, who tried repeatedly to take pictures with me. While I was preparing with Miss Slovania and Miss Japan to get our photograph taken, Miss Israel jumped in and took a selfie with her phone and posted it on social media. Miss Israel revealed: We took a group picture with Miss Slovenia, Miss Japan, and Miss Lebanon. She must have received criticism from fans in Lebanon after I uploaded it, and now she will not stand next to me in any situation, and now Miss Egypt is behaving the same way.
Y Net News reports that there was a debate on whether or not Greige should be stripped of her title because of the incident, but she was not. The news outlet wrote: Lebanon and Israel remain in an official state of war ... Lebanon's Al Jadid published a scathing report of the incident, in which they poked fun at Greige, and asked by the model, who once said she enjoys reading, failed to read a book explain that Israel is an enemy state.
