JERUSALEM -- The new Miss Israel is a raven-haired beauty who works as a legal secretary.

And she's an Arab.

When a glittery, rhinestone crown was placed on the head of Rana Raslan at a Tel Aviv center Tuesday night, it was a first for the 1 million Israeli citizens of Arab descent. And Israel, a state of 4.8 million Jews, found itself with its first non-Jewish beauty queen in the 49 years of the beauty queen competition.

Raslan, 21, is from Haifa, a northern Israeli city with a large Arab population. She will represent Israel in the Miss World pageant. After winning the title, the new Miss Israel, who is a Muslim, reached for the microphone.

"I want to talk. I want to say something," she said in Hebrew to the ebullient crowd. "We must prove to the world that we can coexist here. There is no difference between an Arab and a Jew. We are just human beings. I shall represent Israel in the most correct way."

Raslan, the first Israeli Arab contestant to ever reach the finals, doesn't believe she won the crown because she is Arab.

"I am completely Israeli," she said yesterday in an interview on Israeli television. "They chose me because I was the most beautiful."

Jew and Arab alike praised the choice of Raslan as a symbolic step forward in the often-strained relations between Israel's Jewish and Arab citizens, who differ from Arabs of the West Bank and Gaza because they never left the confines of Israel's post-1948 borders.

The two may share citizenship but not equal rights here. Israeli Arab towns traditionally receive less state aid than their Jewish counterparts. Their citizens also face discrimination in housing, education and jobs.

"This is a very clear expression of equality and coexistence of Arabs and Jews in Israel," said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "We are proud that Raslan will represent Israel in the entire world."

"This is a symbolic and historical event which signifies a reduction of the sense of estrangement between Arabs and Jews," said Talab Al Sana, an Arab member of Israel's parliament and a vocal critic of the government.

Pnina Rosenblum, a cosmetics company executive and candidate for prime minister, was one of the judges.

In voting for Raslan, she said she chose "the most beautiful and intelligent candidate. Her election is a message of peace and conciliation to the Arab world," she added.

If Raslan has been singled out for any criticism by fellow Arabs, it was for participating in the swimsuit part of the competition.

"I think Rana crossed red lines for an Arab girl when she appeared in a bathing suit," said Rana Saliva, an actress from the Israeli Arab town of Shefar'am near the coastal city of Akko. "But with all due respect, she had the courage to participate in the competition."

Nadia Hilou, a social worker who is an Israeli Arab, said she hopes Raslan's win will be followed by other firsts for Arab citizens of Israel.

"Our new Arab generation wants a real integration and real civil rights," said Hislou, who works in Jaffa, a once-Arab dominated seaport south of Tel Aviv. "I hope there will be more and more firsts in our daily lives, in our political life, in our social life."

Another first scored recently was the appointment of the first Israeli Arab to sit on Israel's Supreme Court. Judge Abdel Rahman Zuabi's appointment is for a 90-day period.

But Majid Al-Haj, director of the Center for Multi-Culturalism at Haifa University, cautioned against making too much of the two firsts. "It is a creeping recognition. It is very limited. It is still not the norm and not rooted in Israeli political culture," he said.

One Israeli denounced the whole show.

"An Arab beauty queen has been chosen, so I'm supposed to be terribly impressed about what a wonderful and equality-minded country we have because the Arab sector has joined in this ridiculous celebration?" complained Irit Linor, a popular Israeli author who is a vocal advocate of women's rights.

"But have Arab women made advances in their status?" she asked in a radio interview, and questioned whether "an Arab girl in a swimsuit talking at the Miss World contest about closing the hole in the ozone layer" would help the Arab feminist cause.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Pub Date: 3/11/99