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While all of us weren't looking, Bar Refaeli became one of the hottest celebrities in the U.S. How did the Israeli model conquer the blogs and the gossip columns, and why do the Americans love her so much?
Many Israeli stars have tried their luck in the land of endless possibilities, and at best got 30 seconds of screen time, usually portraying a Lebanese terrorist. In fact, it has been a long time since an Israeli immigrant was able to win over the hearts of the American public, star in the tabloids and gain the adoration of teens in the land of Uncle Sam. Then came Bar Refaeli.
Surprisingly, the young Rafaeli overcame numerous obstacles and wormed her way into the warm lap of American gossip columnists with incredible speed. Granted, her relationship with Leonardo Dicaprio contributed to her growing popularity, but other Israeli stars with famous American boyfriends failed to translate their romantic relationship into the kind of international celebrity Refaeli enjoys (for example, Milli Avital who dated David Schwimmer, the star of "Friends.")
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So what is the Israeli model's secret? A short examination of leading internet blogs in the U.S. reveals some clues, but no, it is not just her enviable thighs.
Gossip Website Icelebz, which contains pictures of such Hollywood powerhouses as Angelina Jolie and Lucy Liu, offers no less than 154 pictures of Refaeli, as well as a short biography. The site describes Refaeli as an "Israeli international model" and showers her with compliments while listing the campaigns she took part in and the awards she has received. It doesn't mention Dicaprio anywhere.
And indeed, over the last two months, Refaeli has become a hot item in her own right. Regardless of Leonardo Dicaprio, everyone wants to know who she's modeling for, where she's hanging out and especially how scantily clad she is in photographs. One of the foremost American gossip Websites "Splash" posted a revealing photograph of Refaeli with the caption "Bar Refaeli is smokin' hot ? Gisele who?', referring to Dicaprio's former supermodel girlfriend Gisele Bundchen. A short blurb explains that the picture was taken on the beaches of San Tropez, by paparazzi who made the long trip just to capture Refaeli's image.
Israeli model Bar Refaeli being photographed by paparazzi in San Tropez
Recently, Refaeli was photographed for the second year in a row for the prestigious annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue, an honor reserved for only the top echelon of supermodels. Alongside a gallery of 50 photographs of the Israeli model, the magazine's Website offers an in depth interview with Refaeli, in which she is asked "If [you] could be anywhere else in the world right now, you would be?" to which she replied "I don't want to be anywhere else. I'm in L.A. right now and I love it."
There is also a page dedicated to Refaeli in the biggest American movie database IMDb, which offers photos and mentions her short-lived television career in the Israeli telenovella "Pick Up".
Smaller Websites and blogs try to entice readers with headlines such as "what did Refaeli do this weekend?" and "who is Bar Refaeli dating?"
If you need further proof of Refaeli's popularity outside the gossip circle ? the Jewish magazine Heeb which covers popular and alternative culture, saluted the "most beautiful Jewish girls in the world", with Refaeli gracing the cover, in the last issue.
So, why did Refaeli succeed where so many beautiful and talented girls failed? Maybe it is her penchant for posing in the nude and clinging to Leonardo Dicaprio, maybe it is her exotic and healthy beauty (in comparison with anorexic waifs like Gisele and her contemporaries) or the fact that she has renounced all her Israeli characteristics. Whatever the reason is, there is no doubt that while none of us were looking, Bar Refaeli became the first Zionist celebrity, and it appears that the day is not far off when people will ask "Leonardo Dicaprio, isn't he the one who used to date Bar Refaeli?"
Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.
