Why Gal Gadot's Maxim Shoot Sparked Controversy

Gal Gadot began her path to stardom when she was crowned Miss Israel in 2004, launching her career as a model. She took a brief hiatus to complete two years of mandatory service in the Israeli army, per Glamour, but her experience in front of the camera came in handy when she and other female

Gal Gadot began her path to stardom when she was crowned Miss Israel in 2004, launching her career as a model. She took a brief hiatus to complete two years of mandatory service in the Israeli army, per Glamour, but her experience in front of the camera came in handy when she and other female members of the Israel military posed in bikinis for a 2007 Maxim photoshoot. The spread, which called Gadot "flawless," and the women of the Israeli Defense Forces "the world's sexiest soldiers," sparked immediate controversy with Israel's Knesset. 

According to The Guardian, the country's female politicians criticized the foreign ministry for "resorting to pornography to promote Israel abroad." Zahava Gal On, leader of the Meretz party, expressed her dismay that "the New York consulate thinks that Israel's relevance will be expressed by the use of naked women," while Colette Avital of the Labour party condemned the images as "a pornographic campaign to encourage tourism." Despite the backlash, Maxim maintained that it was pleased with the results of its collaboration with the Israeli consulate (via The Guardian), and Gadot backed the sentiment.

In 2011, the star told Forward that she wasn't fazed by the images. "When you are a model, your job is to take pictures in a bathing suit. There's nothing provocative about that," she explained. If there's anything we've learned from this controversy, it's that Gadot knows how to bring the drama both on and offscreen!

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