Miss Israel has reported receiving a flood of death and rape threats following a viral video that allegedly shows her glaring at Miss Palestine during a pageant.

The footage, taken at a Miss Universe event in Thailand, quickly gained attention online. It appeared to capture 27-year-old Melanie Shiraz rolling her eyes at Nadeen Ayoub, also 27, who seemed to be standing beside her on stage.

In response, Shiraz released what she claims is the ‘original footage’ of the event. This version shows her positioned behind Ayoub, with her expression directed elsewhere, disputing the narrative created by the viral clip.

The Israeli beauty queen has asserted that the controversial video was manipulated by a third party to falsely portray her actions. She believes it was deliberately edited to mislead viewers.

Following the spread of the contentious clip, Shiraz has faced a barrage of online abuse, including comments referencing Hitler. The situation has forced her to increase her security measures.

“It’s not just death threats; there are also threats of sexual assault,” Shiraz told the New York Post. “I’ve encountered antisemitism before, but I never imagined it would escalate to this level.”

‘Hitler should have finished the job,’ one comment from social media apparently read.

Shiraz took to Instagram to condemn the online ‘hatred’ she says she received following the clip, telling her 37,000 followers: ‘This platform is meant to empower women. 

‘Using it to tear women down, sharing images without consent, and staying silent while a fellow competitor is attacked all undermine what we are meant to represent.’ 

Miss Israel Melanie Shiraz posted on social media ‘edited’ footage, which showed her glaring at Miss Palestine, alongside ‘official’ footage, which showed her diverting her gaze elsewhere

The Israeli beauty queen, right, has claimed the video where she appeared to give Miss Palestine, left, the side-eye was from a ‘third-party’,  designed to intentionally mislead audiences

Users on social media were quick to criticise Shiraz, right, for what appeared to be her casting a ‘dirty look’ at the Miss Palestine contestant, left

The event in Thailand is the first time the beauty competition has included a contestant from the Palestinian-occupied territories.

Users on social media were quick to criticise Shiraz for what appeared to be her casting a ‘dirty look’ at the Miss Palestine contestant, with one person writing on X: ‘Free Miss Palestine from Israeli energy.’

Reacting to the onslaught of criticism, Shiraz took to social media to explain that the clip was misrepresentative. ‘Here is a side-by-side of nearly the same pose,’ the Israeli contestant wrote on Instagram, alongside two videos from the event.

‘It shows how easily perspective can distort a simple expression when only one angle is circulated,’ she said.

The beauty queen went on to condemn people for ‘sensationalising intentionally msleading, edited, or incomplete conent at the expense of another woman,’ calling the overall situation ‘disappointing’.

‘Private photography or content capture during official events is also not permitted under competition guidelines, and respecting those rules matters,’ she added.

‘As representatives of countries in conflict, we have a responsibility to model dignity, peace, and hope – not pettiness, hatred, or deepening divides.’

Commenting on the ‘dehumanisation’ that followed the viral clip, Shiraz said the hate comments ‘reflect far more about the world than they do about me’.

‘It was hard to cope with at first, but it only reinforces exactly why I am here: to stand proudly as a Jewish Israeli woman, and to advocate for truth, peace, and unity,’ she said.

Shiraz, who graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, and later earned her MBA at Tel Aviv University, previously worked in tech before becoming involved in pageantry. 

Miss Palestine Nadeen Ayoub presents on stage during the official Miss Universe 2025 welcome event in Bangkok, Thailand, November 5, 2025

Social media reactions to Shiraz come as Israel faces intense international condemnation for its military activities in Gaza

Social media reactions to Shiraz come as Israel faces intense international condemnation for its military activities in Gaza. 

Hamas killed 1,200 people and seized 251 hostages when it launched the deadly attack in southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

More than 69,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory response, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.

Shiraz’s social media posts are often bombarded with comments calling her ‘Miss Genocide’ or the slogan ‘Free Palestine’.

The viral clip apparently showing the contestant giving Ayoub a hostile look only spurred the negative comments.

‘[Miss] Israel doesn’t belong there if she keeps it going with her facial expressions. The point of [Miss Universe] is to be beautiful with a kind heart,’ one user wrote on TikTok.

After her participation in the competition as Miss Palestine was announced earlier this year, Ayoub said in an Instagram post: ‘Today, I step onto the Miss Universe stage not just with a title but with a truth…

‘I represent every Palestinian woman and child whose strength the world needs to see. We are more than our suffering – we are resilience, hope and the heartbeat of a homeland that lives on through us.’

She previously represented Palestine in the 2022 Miss Earth beauty pageant in the Philippines, where she came third.

The beauty queen who lives between Dubai and Ramallah in the West Bank told The National newspaper in the United Arab Emirates: ‘There hasn’t been another Miss Palestine since 2022, due to the genocide.’

Israel has vehemently denied that its military actions in Gaza amount to genocide and says its activities are justified as a means of delf-defence. 

In July, Shiraz was crowned Miss Israel at a competition in Miami, Florida.

The entrepreneur told the Jerusalem Post: ‘I want to show people, both in and outside of Israel, that this title can be a force for connection, for understanding and for positive change.

‘It’s about far more than beauty – it’s about making our people proud by standing for something that matters.’

In July, Shiraz was crowned Miss Israel at a competition in Miami, Florida

The social media uproar surrounding Shiraz and Ayoub is only the latest controversy to hit the Miss Universe contest this year.

Contestants staged a furious mass walkout from a recent event in Bangkok after Miss Universe Mexico was publicly reprimanded by a pageant boss in front of dozens of beauty queens.

Danish model Victoria Theilvig, who won the top title last year, led the walkout at the sashing ceremony, after a competition official berated 25-year-old Fátima Bosch.

Footage from the livestreamed event showed Bosch being called ‘dumb’ in a humiliating dressing-down by Thai boss Nawat Itsaragrisil.

He asked security to escort the beauty queen out of the hotel after she accused him of not ‘respecting [her] as a woman’.

‘As a country you have all my respect, I truly love Thailand – but what your director did is not respectful, he called me dumb,’ Bosch told the press after the dramatic incident.

The clash went viral online, with hundreds of fans and former contestants swarming to her defense and praising her for standing up to the official.

‘I think that the world needs to see this, because we are empowered women and this is a platform for our voice, and no one can shut our voice,’ Bosch said as a crowd cheered in support.

Miss Universe President Raúl Rocha Cantú delivered a stern statement condemning Nawat, saying: ‘I will not allow the values of respect and dignity toward women to be violated.’

Justifying why she stormed out of the event, 21-year-old Theilvig said: ‘This is about women’s rights.

‘To trash another girl – it’s beyond disrespectful and it’s nothing I’ve ever done. That’s why I’m taking my coat and I’m going.’