first black miss israel invited to dinner with president obama

U.S. President Barack Obama has extended an invitation to Yityish Aynaw, the first black Miss Israel, to attend a state dinner hosted at Israeli

President Shimon Peres’ home, reports the Guardian. It’s only three weeks since the 21-year-old Ethiopian Israeli was announced winner of the beauty pageant that has run uninterrupted for 63 years.

Now Aynaw can look forward to dining alongside the country’s dignitaries and an American President she considers one of her role models. “I was influenced and inspired by Obama,” she told the BBC. “Like him, I was also raised by my grandmother … and I also had to work very hard and long to achieve things in my life. To this day, he inspires me just as he inspires the rest of the world.” According to Aynaw, she has more in common with the U.S. President than one would imagine: “I’m the first black Miss Israel to be chosen and [Obama] is the first black American President. These go together,” she told the Jerusalem Post.