Miss Israel Melanie Shiraz says she has been bombarded with death and rape threats after filing a possible claim edited video went viral and showed her staring at Miss Palestine during a Miss Universe competition.
The 27-year-old told how the abuse started within hours of the video circulating online and when people started thinking she had given Nadeen Ayoub a dirty look on stage during the pageant in Bangkok, Thailand.
“My social media was flooded with hate comments and just clips from this video that looked like I was standing next to her.
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Miss Universe contestants in Thailand for the 2025 competition. (Miss Universe Thailand Facebook)
“At first I thought it was AI or something, but then I realized it was just from a different camera with a very distorted perspective.”
Shiraz insisted that she expected to “receive a lot of hatred and harsher criticism just because she was Israel’s representative, but this should not give rise to Hitler comments and no death threats.”
“And that is exactly what I received,” she said, before describing the harassment as graphic and disturbing.
“This has gone to the point where I want to rape and kill you, or I hope you end up as one of the hostages who were raped and shot in the head,” she said.
“I got: ‘die you dirty Jew.’ I don’t want to be too graphic, and that’s shocking.”
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“I hoped I could have a productive dialogue with Miss Palestine, maybe even take a few photos together and show the world that we can be an example for peace,” she added.
Shiraz, who attended the University of California, Berkeley and completed an MBA, previously worked in Israel’s tech sector and founded her own startup before venturing into pageantry.
“I realized that I am very passionate about advocacy,” she said. “I became deeply involved in the Jewish community and Israel advocacy on campus, and it struck me that a cultural stage like this could give Israel a human voice, when we are generally only seen through a political lens,” she added.
The controversy in Bangkok also arose after Ayoub posted several photos of the event online after a show.
“She also posted eight photos with me all visible,” Shiraz recalls.
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Shiraz says she is passionate about representing Israel. (Melanieshiraz/Instagram)
“They were clearly not good photos of me, and photos of me looking in that direction, or what that direction appeared to be.
“I asked her to delete it, and she only deleted one or two photos, but not all.”
“During the match, I realized there was a specific cameraman focused right on her, and I was right behind her,” she said. “I had also realized that the cameraman was only pointing at her, and therefore at myself, and that there seemed to be some kind of communication between them, which struck me.”
Despite the abuse, Shiraz remains determined. “It’s very, very difficult to be Jewish and Israeli these days. Whatever we do, we’re going to get hate for it,” she said.
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Shiraz said she hoped to have a productive dialogue with Miss Palestine and perhaps take some photos together. (Melanieshiraz/Instagram)
“It only reinforces for me that what I am doing now is important and that I should not be distracted, but only motivated.”
The 74th Miss Universe competition, with 121 participants, continues in Thailand, with the grand finale on Friday, November 21.
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“I have a great passion for representing Israel and hope to leave my background after this competition and focus my life’s work on advocating for Israel and causes,” she said. “I come out every day and put my best foot forward, and sometimes it feels like no matter what I do, it’s just not going to be enough, you know, to get me into certain people’s hearts… But obviously it’s not going to stop me from putting my best foot forward.”
