Meet the IDF soldier hoping to be crowned Miss World in London on Sunday
A beauty queen whose spare time is spent enjoying a form of hand-to-hand combat known for its combined use of fists, elbows, knees, shins? That could only be Miss Israel…
This week, as London prepared to host the final of the Miss World contest on Sunday, Thai boxing fan Mor Maman, 19, from Be’ersheva in Israel, lined up alongside some of the world’s most beautiful women in a sultry blue dress, emblazoned in the Star of David.
Yet Mor, an IDF soldier who also enjoys belly dancing, is not the pampered puss most people would expect.
“Four years ago, our life changed,” she said. “My mother fell down and lost her memory as a result of the fall. It was simply erased. I arrived at the hospital and she didn’t know who I was. I was angry at the entire world, I began neglecting myself, and then my father had a heart attack.”
She has also proved to be quite the patriot, posting photos of herself wearing IDF nail varnish and even listing Israeli start-up Waze as her favourite app in a personal Q&A.
She follows last year’s Miss Israel, Yityish Aynaw, whose family come from Ethiopia. The country’s first black representative in the competition, Aynaw also served in the IDF, and famously impressed President Obama, who met her on his visit to the Jewish state after his re-election.
This time round, Mor is looking to claim the crown for Israel for the second time, after Netanya-born Linor Abargil won the title in 1998, a year after she was raped by her travel agent, Uri Shlomo Nur, while she was in Milan. Last year, a documentary film, called ‘Brave Miss World,’ was made about her ordeal and subsequent activism.a
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
