Israeli Supermodel Catfight!
Refaeli and Ginzburg feud over IDF service
October 07, 2009
Ginzburg and Refaeli, kept separated.(Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images; John Parra/Getty Images for Ralph Lauren)
As we all know, Israel is not like America. Today’s example? A simmering catfight between the country’s two Sports Illustrated swimsuit models, superstar (and cover girl) Bar Refaeli and newcomer Esti Ginzburg. See, in America, when models fight, it’s about things like who gets to be called “The Body.” But in a recent interview with Ynet, Ginzburg—who is also a budding actress, with a part alongside Chace Crawford in Joel Schumacher’s upcoming film Twelve—went after Refaeli for failing to do her mandatory IDF service. “Enlisting is a duty, not a choice. There are a million things I don’t feel like doing, but I do them because I have to,” Private Ginzburg told the paper, which linked to a two-year-old story in which Refaeli told a reporter that she had gotten married in order to avoid the draft. “Celebrities have other needs,” she said then. She also, for what it’s worth, went on to articulate a considered position on Zionism: “Israel or Uganda, what difference does it make? It makes no difference to me. Why is it good to die for our country? What, isn’t it better to live in New York? Why should 18-year-old kids have to die? It’s dumb that people have to die so that I can live in Israel.”
Allison Hoffman is a senior editor at Tablet Magazine. Her Twitter feed is @allisont_dc.
