Shiraz said that the tone of the conversation shifted after she introduced herself as Miss Israel.
By Vered Weiss, World Israel News
Miss Israel 2025 Melanie Shiraz said she had a brief and tense interaction with New York City First Lady Rama Duwaji at a Brooklyn coffee shop after introducing herself as an Israeli beauty queen visiting the city for an event at the Israeli Consulate, according to the New York Post.
Shiraz said the encounter took place Sunday at a café in Williamsburg while she was in New York for consular events connected to her advocacy work.
The 27-year-old, who previously studied at UC Berkeley and worked in Silicon Valley before returning to Tel Aviv, said she recognized Duwaji seated nearby and approached her.
According to Shiraz, the interaction became uncomfortable once she disclosed her identity.
“As soon as I did, she said, ‘Sorry’ and asked if it was a video and said she didn’t want to anymore,” Shiraz said, describing an attempt to take a photo together.
Shiraz said she then raised concerns over comments and online activity previously linked to Duwaji regarding Israel and Israelis.
“I told her what I think about the stuff she has said online, and that I believe that it’s important to engage in dialogue in which you don’t dehumanize the other side,” Shiraz said. “And she politely brushed me off and then refused to engage anymore.”
A short selfie-style clip later shared by Shiraz reportedly showed the two women briefly in frame before Duwaji appeared to move away from the camera.
Shiraz said that the tone of the conversation shifted after she introduced herself as Miss Israel.
“She was polite but clearly changed her tone,” Shiraz said. “I had told her I’m Miss Israel, and then she didn’t want to engage with me anymore.”
The New York Post reported that Duwaji faced criticism last month over resurfaced social media activity related to Israel and the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack.
According to the report, she later issued a public apology saying she understood “the hurt” caused by the posts.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s office declined to comment on the café encounter, according to the report, while Duwaji did not respond to a request for comment from The California Post. Mamdani has previously said his wife is a “private person who has held no formal position on my campaign or in my City Hall.”
The post Miss Israel says NYC first lady ended cafe conversation after learning she was Israeli appeared first on World Israel News.