When Noa Cochva wants to explain why she devotes so much of her time to public diplomacy in the United States, she recalls a moment with a group of American Jewish teens. “I told them I had served as a combat medic and that I was Miss Israel,” she said. “Three months later, at another conference, a father approached me and thanked me. His daughter had decided to make aliyah and enlist, saying she wanted to be a combat medic like me.”
Cochva, crowned Miss Israel in 2021 and once focused on an international modeling career, has taken an unexpected path since the Hamas attack of Oct. 7. She was called up for reserve duty, served as a combat medic on the Gaza border, cared for her seriously ill father and then began working with Jewish organizations in the United States to advocate for Israel.
Her shift began by chance. While serving on reserve duty, a military photographer captured an image of her that quickly went viral. With 164,000 followers on Instagram, Cochva soon turned her account into what she describes as a “one-woman advocacy operation,” posting videos explaining Israel’s perspective.
After leaving reserve duty, she accepted an invitation from the Friends of the IDF for a speaking tour. For more than a year she has traveled between Israel and New York, speaking at fundraisers, community events and American college campuses. “I share my story to help people understand our reality,” she said. “I meet with Jewish students because they are on the front line, facing hostility from classmates who only know what they hear in the media.”
Cochva says she is not funded by the Israeli government. “That’s the sad part,” she said. “The state is not involved in advocacy and doesn’t support us. I’m sent by Jewish organizations like Stand With Us and Hillel. They have goodwill and the resources to help.”
Cochva now lives in New York with her partner, Sean Taplitzky, a Jewish businessman whose mother is Israeli. The two met through a mutual acquaintance. “After a few dates I flew back to Israel. A few days later he called and said, ‘I’m coming,’” she said. “He’s very private, the opposite of me, which is refreshing.”
She said Jewish New Yorkers are increasingly anxious following the election of Mayor Zohran Mamdani. “There is fear in the air,” she said. “He won’t say Hamas must disarm and doesn’t believe Israel should exist. That’s the opposite of what New York stands for.”
Cochva insists she has not left Israel. “I’m here on a work visa. This is a mission,” she said. “I’m Israeli and I’ll live in Israel all my life, but right now my voice is needed here.”
Despite living in New York, she remains deeply connected to Israeli fashion, wearing mostly Israeli designers and bringing most of her wardrobe from home. “It’s part of my advocacy,” she said. “Israeli fashion is respected here, and Jewish communities want to support Israeli designers.”
Cochva describes her daily style as simple—jeans and T-shirts—but dresses formally for lectures. For the fashion shoot accompanying the interview, she said she was happiest to see “as much blue and white as possible” on set.
She sees her work in the U.S. as both personal and national. “This is a fight not just for Israel but for the Jewish people,” she said. “We can’t take our foot off the gas.”