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Miss Lebanon gets slammed for selfie with Miss Israel, says she was photobombed

Miss Lebanon gets slammed for selfie with Miss Israel, says she was photobombed.

Miss Lebanon took a selfie with Miss Israel and two other Miss Universe contestants during some downtime last week, and now the seemingly innocent photo of four smiling women has turned into an international incident.

Lebanese media reportedly pounced on Miss Lebanon, whose name is Saly Greige. The country and Israel are technically at war, although conflict has been minimal over the past nine years, according to The Telegraph. Still, some commentators were reportedly irked that Greige was associating with Miss Israel, or Doron Matalon.

Following public backlash, however, Greige claimed Matalon "tried several times to take a photo with me," and that the photo only occurred after "Miss Israel jumped in and took a selfie." Greige later reposted the photo, talking about Doron saying: "To all my supporters and Lebanese citizens, I would like to thank you indeed for your continuous support of Miss Lebanon at the Miss Universe contest... The truth behind the photo, since the first day of my arrival to participate to Miss universe,I was very cautious to avoid being in any photo or communication with Miss isreal, who tried several times to take a photo with me. I was having a photo with Miss Japan, Miss Slovenia, suddenly Miss Israel jumped in and took a selfie, and uploaded it on her social media. This is what happened and I hope to have your full support in the Miss Universe contest."

Miss Israel reposted the original photo on Sunday, saying she wasn't surprised by the uproar, but that it still made her "sad."

The 63rd annual Miss Universe pageant will air at 8 p.m. ET on Jan. 25 in Doral, Florida.