Overview
- Melanie Shiraz, who met Rama Duwaji by chance at a New York cafe on Sunday, says the conversation cooled after she introduced herself as Miss Israel and identified as Israeli and Jewish.
- Her post includes a three-second video without sound that shows Duwaji smile at the camera before trying to move out of frame.
- The mayor's office declined to comment, and Duwaji has not responded to reporters, while Zohran Mamdani has previously said his wife holds no role in City Hall.
- The encounter revived attention to Duwaji’s resurfaced posts, including a 2017 image of Leila Khaled and a claim that Tel Aviv should not exist, for which she issued a public apology last month.
- Shiraz’s account spread across tabloids and right-leaning sites as supporters praised her online, renewing pressure on the administration’s ties with Jewish communities and reairing past verification questions about dormant social accounts.