Israeli model Yael Shelbia. Photo: Courtesy of ITM Models/Yossi Michaeli.

Tel Aviv-based model Yael Shelbia says she has high hopes for the future of the Middle East, after becoming the first Israeli to appear on the cover of a magazine published in the United Arab Emirates.

“As a Jewish religious, IDF soldier and a model, I’m so very honored to be the first one to participate in such a historical cover,” Shelbia, 19, told The Algemeiner on Wednesday. “I hope that in the near future, we will be privileged to extend the peace in the Middle East.”

Shelbia, who started modeling when she was 14, will appear on the cover of the Dubai-based fashion and lifestyle magazine L’Official Arabia in its February issue. She flew to New York City for the cover photoshoot for a single day during a snowstorm, Kayla Lask, from Shelbia’s Israel-based modeling agency ITM Models, told The Algemeiner.

In addition to being featured on the cover, Shelbia will have an 8-page spread in the magazine and will wear looks by Israeli designers. The magazine’s February issue will be dedicated solely to Israeli fashion, The Algemeiner previously reported.

Shelbia currently lives in Tel Aviv, where she is also serving in the IDF. The Shabbat-observant model is originally from the northern Israeli city of Nahariya and has four brothers and sister. She has already been featured on a number of magazine covers in Israel and was recently voted as 2020’s most beautiful woman in the world in a ranking published by TC Candler.

In 2018, she was featured in an advertisement for Kim Kardashian’s makeup collection KKW Beauty.