Former Miss Israel offers coffee to NYC first lady over Israel controversy

Former Miss Israel Melanie Shiraz posted an Instagram video on Oct. 14, 2026 inviting New York City first lady Rama Duwaji to meet for coffee and discuss Israel and the Middle East.

The invitation arrives amid heightened scrutiny of Duwaji’s public positions after she liked social‑media posts that praised the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack, sparking backlash from Israel‑supporting communities in the city.

In the video, Shiraz said, “Coffee is on me,” adding, “We can talk about Israel, the Middle East, whatever you’d like.” She warned that she “doesn’t bite, but I may just ask questions that you might not like answering,” and noted she would “demand Duwaji explain, face‑to‑face, how she reconciles her public positions and associations with the testimony of people who survived Hamas’ atrocities.”

The offer references a brief May encounter in a Brooklyn café that went viral after Duwaji’s demeanor changed when Shiraz disclosed she was Israeli. Shiraz claimed Duwaji brushed her off and later discovered Duwaji had previously liked posts celebrating the Oct. 7 massacre, describing the content as framing the Hamas assault as “resistance.”

Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s office described Duwaji as a private person with no formal role in his campaign or City Hall, and declined to comment on the new invitation. Earlier in October, the Israeli Consulate in New York invited the mayor to a screening of a film documenting Hamas atrocities, urging him to see “what the people he supports really did.” The mayor did not attend the event and issued a statement accusing Israel of genocide.

As of the time of publication, no response from Duwaji or the mayor’s office has been confirmed regarding Shiraz’s coffee invitation, leaving the potential meeting uncertain.