Yael Shelbia
Yael Shelbia Cohen (; born August 31, 2001) is an Israeli fashion model and actress. She has appeared in a number of international modeling campaigns. Cohen became a leading model for Castro from 2017 and Renuar from 2018. In 2019, Shelbia was chosen to lead Kylie Jenner's new skincare range. Yael currently stars in the Israeli television series "Palmach" on Teen Nick and Yes TV Kids. Life. She uses her middle name "Shelbia" as her professional surname, which was inherited from her Djerbian great-grandmother's Tunisian-Jewish family (of Sephardic Jewish descent), as it is believed to  protect against the evil eye. She began by uploading selfies she took by herself on Instagram shortly before her 16th birthday. As a result of finding her photos on her Instagram account, she later received an offer to take photos from the professional photographer Marina Moskowitz. She has received additional media attention due to her Orthodox background, as she keeps Kosher and observes Shabbat, which had led to controversy in her Orthodox Jewish religious community. In April 2020, Shelbia was enlisted to the Israel Defense Forces, the Israeli military. She is currently serving in the Israeli Air Force. Career. Her  modeling soon led to controversy and opposition in her Ulpana, which threatened to send a letter to the Israeli Education Ministry to expel her. Her family however, had been supportive of her career, so long as it would not interfere with her religious studies. And after consultation with Israel's Religious Education Ministry, she was allowed to continue her studies on condition of following certain guidelines. However, combining a modeling career with a religious lifestyle, has led to difficulties, including in terms of modesty of clothing. During a modeling campaign in Milan, she had to live on crackers for four  days, as she could not find kosher food. She says she had lost many modeling contracts, due to her keeping of the Sabbath and choices in clothing. The speed of the success of her career both in Europe and Israel, has led to comparisons to Shlomit Malka, Dorit Revelis and Sofia Mechetner. As of 2020, Shelbia serves as a soldier in the Israeli Air Force of the Israel Defense Forces, rather than serving in the Sherut Leumi as a civilian. The latter is what most religious Jewish girls in Israel opt to do. In 2018, she modelled for Kim Kardashian 's brand KKW Beauty, where her photos were chosen by Kim Kardashian. In 2019, Shelbia was chosen to lead Kylie Jenner's Biotic Skincare range. In the same year, she was cast for her debut acting role in a television series about the Israeli Palmach forces. It is a teen adventure period drama series set in 1946, two pivotal years before the State of Israel was founded. A seemingly innocent training farm secretly functions as a Strike Forces (also known as Palmach) training base and recruitment center for exceptional teens, as well as a home-base for illegal Jewish immigration  missions and special ops against the British Mandate. The show debuted in 2020, Shelbia plays Ruth. Personal life. In 2019, she began dating American businessman Brandon Korff (son of Rabbi Yitzhak Aharon Korff, and grandson of billionaire Sumner Redstone).