A 21-year-old Ethiopian immigrant to Israel has been crowned the country’s Miss Israel 2013. Yityish (Titi) Aynaw told the audience during the competition’s spoken-word portion that her candidacy was an apt demonstration of Israeli diversity:

A panel of judges at the International Convention Center Haifa on Wednesday awarded the title to the young and gorgeous model, who came to Israel only about a decade ago. “It’s important that a member of the Ethiopian community wins the competition for the first time,” she told the judges during the spoken word part of the competition. “There are many different communities of many different colors in Israel, and it’s important to show that to the world.”

Aynaw is a former Israeli army officer and the first Ethiopian ever to win the pageant. She will now represent Israel at the annual Miss World pageant, to be held in Jakarta, Indonesia on September 28.

Aynaw arrived in Israel from Ethiopia at the age of 12 with her brother after the death of their parents. Asked about the difficulties of learning a new language and developing a sense of Israeli identity, Aynaw said her assimilation into society eased because she found herself “thrown into the deep end” and “learned to swim” by attending regular school classes rather than specialized classes for new immigrants.

[Photos: Beauty Pageant News]