Michal Har'el
Michal Har'el (; née Herison; 1931 – 2 March 2012), was the second Miss Israel, a women's rights activist, and one of three lifetime honorary presidents of Women's International Zionist Organization. Biography Michal Herison (later Har'el) was a seventh generation Jerusalemite born to Zipporah Salomon and Osher Samuel Zelman Herison. She was a relative of Yoel Moshe Salomon. Har'el attended Evelina de Rothschild School in Jerusalem and David Yellin College of Education. She was described by The Jewish Daily Forward as a "stalwart defender of the City of David during the 1948 siege of Jerusalem." Har'el married Yitzhak Moda'i in 1953. Together they had three children. Their oldest daughter, Harela, died in an automobile accident when she was 22 years old. Her parents established an annual memorial prize at Army Radio, where she worked. A son, Boaz Moda'i, served as Israel's ambassador to Ireland from 2010 to 2015. Fashion career After working as a kindergarten teacher, she became a beauty queen, winning the title of Miss Jerusalem and then Miss Israel. Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion wanted representatives of Israel to have Hebrew names, and so she changed her last name from Herison to Har'el. She travelled the world representing Israel.