21-year-old Shani Hazan of Kiryat Ata is the new Miss International Israel. She will compete in the annual BIG 4 Pageant, which will be held in Tokyo, Japan on November 11th, 2014.
Hazan was first crowned as Malkat HaYofi 2012, the top title in the annual Miss Israel Beauty Pageant. The 182-cm tall brunette also competed in the 2012 edition of Miss World, held in Ordos, China where she was one of the Top 30 quarterfinalists.
With this new development, Hazan will be the first Miss Israel to be able to compete in more than one BIG 4 Pageant. This is not the first time, though, that a Malkat HaYofi titleholder was able to compete in Miss International. In 1963, Ester Kfir competed in Long Beach, California for the Miss International Beauty Pageant instead of Miss Universe, where Israel traditionally sent their top Malkat HaYofi winner.
Israel has never won the Miss International title since they started competing in the same year that this annual BIG 4 Pageant was established. Their best performance was a 1st Runner-up finish in 1967, courtesy of Yaffa Shafrir.
