A selfie taken at the Miss Universe pageant has invoked a stir recently. Miss Lebanon, Saly Greige, came under fire for being caught in a photo with Miss Israel, Doron Matalon, and posted the photo on her Instagram.

Lebanese television station Al Jadeed criticized Greige that she should have known that Lebanon and Israel are enemies. “I had been trying to avoid communicating with and taking a photo with Miss Israel since arriving at the competition,” the Lebanese beauty queen said.

Matalon, who served two years in the Israeli Defense Forces, reacted to the incident saying that she wished “hostility” could be forgotten for the three-week duration of the competition so that “we can meet girls from around the world and also from the neighboring country.”

By Um Yoon-sun (uys@heraldcorp.com)