{"id":329340,"date":"2026-07-04T14:24:38","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T14:24:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/329340\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T14:24:38","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T14:24:38","slug":"south-florida-born-israeli-crowned-miss-israel-2026-in-miami-israel-jewish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/329340\/","title":{"rendered":"South Florida-born Israeli crowned \u2018Miss Israel\u2019 2026 in Miami – Israel & Jewish News"},"content":{"rendered":"

(July 2, 2026 \/ JNS)\n <\/p>\n

Danielle Yablonka, a 25-year-old Israeli who made aliyah from South Florida two years ago, was crowned \u201cMiss Israel\u201d 2026 in Miami Beach on Wednesday during a ceremony at the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU.<\/p>\n

\u201cIsrael has a very special and unique opportunity to present itself to a wider audience,\u201d Yablonka told JNS at the ceremony. \u201cMost Americans don\u2019t talk about pageants so much, but for Latin Americans, pageantry is like their version of the Olympics or Eurovision.\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u201cMiss Israel\u201d competition \u201cprovides a platform with millions of viewers all over South America, and it\u2019s untapped potential,\u201d she said. \u201cIf Israel is not advocating for itself on it, now is our chance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Representing Israel is both an honor and a responsibility for the new immigrant to the Jewish state.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope whoever is reading this, and if Israelis are reading this, I hope that they can look at me as an excited newbie that is not washing over all the hardship that Israel goes through, but as someone who\u2019s excited and definitely not as tough as a true Israeli-born Sabra,\u201d she told JNS.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited, and I\u2019m curious, and I want to learn more,\u201d she said. \u201cI want to do the best that I can to use the platform to showcase other people\u2019s voices, not just my own.\u201d<\/p>\n

Competing in a pageant is more demanding than many assume, according to Yablonka.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Danielle<\/p>\n

Danielle Yablonka is crowned as \u201cMiss Israel\u201d 2026 in Miami, July 2, 2026. Credit: Adley Calixte\/\u201cMiss Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that I am guilty of being a person who was turned off by the idea of pageantry, but now that I\u2019ve gotten to know the pageantry world and the girls who participate in it and the opportunities that come with it, I see it the same way I see sports,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important. It\u2019s about empowering women, and it\u2019s about being comfortable with who you are and learning to be the best woman that you can be in teaching and setting an example for others,\u201d she told JNS.<\/p>\n

The event in Miami Beach took place in the museum, which is housed in a historic synagogue, where contemporary works by Miami Jewish artist Sid Daniels overlook exhibits chronicling Jewish life and antisemitism in South Florida.<\/p>\n

Yablonka will represent Israel at the \u201cMiss Universe\u201d competition<\/a> in Puerto Rico this November, after the \u201cMiss Israel\u201d organization selected her in lieu of holding a national pageant this year.<\/p>\n

Organization leaders said that the title represents more than a beauty pageant, and the competition affords Israel the chance to share its culture with a global audience.<\/p>\n

Joseph Shine, president of \u201cMiss Israel,\u201d told JNS that he revived the organization two years ago after the previous license holder, the Israeli publication Yediot Achronot, ended its decades-long involvement with the national pageant.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t stand the possibility of our country not being represented in the national arena and an organization that has all the resources and the power, just gave up on the license,\u201d he told JNS.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe number one newspaper in the country, which has millions and millions of dollars in funding and tradition, just decided to drop the organization,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Shine, who had no previous experience in the pageant industry, revived the organization with the help of Edgar Saakyan, who oversees the \u201cMiss Armenia\u201d competition.<\/p>\n

The competition is open to women of Israeli or Jewish descent and has eliminated the traditional pageant requirements that contestants be unmarried, childless or meet certain height or appearance standards, according to Shine.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Danielle<\/p>\n

Danielle Yablonka is crowned \u201cMiss Israel\u201d 2026 in Miami, July 2, 2026. Credit: Adley Calixte\/\u201cMiss Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

As \u201cMiss Israel\u201d for 2026, Yablonka will represent the Jewish state on the national stage. Shine tells JNS that critics of the pageantry world should know it\u2019s not a mere beauty contest.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur judges select a woman who will represent the country with dignity,\u201d he said. \u201cFor me, it\u2019s very important that a person should represent the pluralistic, liberal culture of Israel, reflecting that our country is a democracy with equal rights for women.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMiss Israel will be the person who can explain to every person that Israel is not just about politics, or about religion, but that there is a vibrant Jewish culture and that our country is very diverse,\u201d he told JNS.<\/p>\n

Not a headline<\/p>\n

Shine told JNS that he sees Israel participating in Miss Israel as a unique opportunity to represent the Jewish state on the world stage in a non-political manner, which will promote Israeli culture.<\/p>\n

\u201cIsrael has a very distinguished national character,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have unique music and food, and we just ask for Israelis to be treated as human beings by the international community.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not trying to push a political agenda,\u201d he said. \u201cIsraeli society is very divided, and everybody has very different opinions about what is going on in Israel, but a \u2018Miss Universe\u2019 contestant represents everyone, regardless of their political views or religious views.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that the \u201cpageantry competition should unite Jews and Israelis around the world, and our message for the world is that as Israelis, we ask to be treated not as a headline but as human beings.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yablonka told JNS that she worked as a professional model but never expected to one day become \u201cMiss Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her public advocacy for Israel began while studying at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco, where she encountered antisemitism on campus.<\/p>\n

\u201cI attended college there on a scholarship, based on my art and Jewish advocacy, only to have a professor\u2014my Jewish professor, actually\u2014call Israel \u2018occupied Palestine,\u2019\u201d she told JNS. \u201cIt was a shock for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yablonka began on Instagram to advocate for Israel and the Jewish people\u2014a role that eventually led her to make aliyah in a move she didn\u2019t anticipate.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter Oct. 7, when the war broke out, I just found myself so lost and alone here,\u201d she told JNS. \u201cMy modeling jobs dried up. No one wanted to work with me anymore, because I was a Zionist on the internet, and I started looking for any way I could to get back to Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Due to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran, the Miss Israel organization did not hold a pageant to select its 2026 representative. Instead, Yablonka, who finished as the first runner-up in last year\u2019s competition, was chosen to represent Israel at the 2026 \u2018Miss Universe\u2019 pageant.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was really bummed that I lost last year, but no matter how upset I was, I never once thought that the competition was rigged,\u201d she told JNS. \u201cI genuinely thought everything happened the way it was supposed to, because it gave me a whole extra year in Israel to really get to know myself and get to know my country as a citizen living there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yablonka sees the title as a platform through which she can serve as a positive role model for Jewish women.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always wear my Jewish star wherever I go,\u201d she told JNS. \u201cI always think that no matter where I am, I\u2019m a representation of the Jewish people. A lot of people have said, \u2018Oh, I don\u2019t want that weight.\u2019 But I don\u2019t care what anyone says. It\u2019s my responsibility to represent the Jewish people wherever I go.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I\u2019m the first Jew or first Israeli that anyone meets, I want them to have a good impression of who I am and who we are as a people,\u201d she said. \u201cIt is my responsibility as Miss Israel, so when I go into this competition, I will lead with kindness. I will smile. I will do what I always do.\u201d<\/p>\n

She aims to learn other people\u2019s stories\u2014including where they come from\u2014and to find ways to connect and build relationships.<\/p>\n

Participating in pageantry has allowed her to connect with contestants from around the world, including the Arab world, while creating opportunities to challenge stereotypes about Israel and Zionism.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have friends now who are from Yemen, Saudi Arabia and all of these Arab countries who were literally taught to hate Jews, taught that Israel is the devil and that the Jews are the worst people,\u201d she told JNS. \u201cThen they meet an Israeli for the first time, and they always tell me that they realize everything told to them was a lie.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI never want anyone to feel pressure to talk to me,\u201d she said. \u201cI want them to feel comfortable and safe, too. I want to just bring light, laughter, and be able to find commonalities between me and whoever is willing to speak with me at the competition.\u201d<\/p>\n

An earlier version of this article misspelled Danielle Yablonka\u2019s name.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(July 2, 2026 \/ JNS) Danielle Yablonka, a 25-year-old Israeli who made aliyah from South Florida two years…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":329341,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-329340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=329340"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329340\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/329341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=329340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=329340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}