Yityish Aynaw, 21, was crowned Miss Israel at the end of February and became the first Black woman to accomplish this. Now, the former IDF officer is already preparing to meet with world leaders.

Israeli President Shimon Peres invited Aynaw to her first state dinner, where President Obama will also be dining, next Thursday.

The Ethiopian-born beauty queen was asked by the Jerusalem Post why she thought she was asked to join the state dinner. Aynaw replied that she was “the first Black Miss Israel to be chosen and [Obama] is the first Black American president. These go together.”

The Jerusalem Post reports:

She said she was “very excited” about the prospect of meeting a leader whose success she cited as a “notable influence on her life.”

Obama “is someone who accomplished things by dint of his hard work,” she said.

Aynaw told the Post that she “didn’t believe that this was happening” when she received a personal dinner invitation from “President Shimon Peres himself” on Tuesday.

Calling the opportunity to dine with the US and Israeli presidents “wonderful,” Aynaw said that as a young immigrant, she “never thought that such a thing could happen” to her.

During the Miss Israel competition, Aynaw told the judges, “It’s important that a member of the Ethiopian community win the competition for the first time. There are many different communities of many different colors in Israel, and it’s important to show that to the world.”

Read the full story here.

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(Photo: facebook/yityishtiti.aynaw)