Sarah Idan, Former Miss Iraq, Runs for Adam Schiff’s Seat as Pro-Israel Democrat

Sarah Idan, who represented Iraq in the Miss Universe pageant in 2017 but lost her citizenship when she posed for a selfie with Miss Israel, is running for Congress in California to replace outgoing Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA).

Idan says that she is running as a pro-Israel, secular Muslim to provide a counterweight to anti-Israel voices like Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), both within her party and the Muslim community.

The Algemeiner reported (original links):

Idan was born in 1990 in Baghdad and is the second youngest of five kids. When she was 18, she volunteered with the US Army in Iraq as a translator. She moved to America two years later and became a US citizen in 2015. Her late father, who died in 2021 from COVID-19, was a military engineer for Saddam Hussein’s Ba’ath Party but left the party when he saw Hussein orchestrate violent attacks.

Idan is also the founder and CEO of Humanity Forward, which is “committed to building bridges among Muslims and Jews in order to surpass borders and promote reconciliation, tolerance, mutual understanding, and peace,” according to its website. She hosts a podcast called the Sarai Talk Show and received the Ambassador for Peace Award by UN Watch in 2019.

Idan represented Iraq in the Miss Universe pageant in 2017. She received death threats and was forced to leave her home country after posing with Miss Israel Adar Gandelsman during the competition. Her citizenship from Iraq was also revoked because of the incident and her family was forced to flee the country in the aftermath of the scandal. Her family now lives in another Arab country that have formal relations with Israel. Idan has continued to push for solidarity with Israel as well as defend the country and promote the normalization of relations with the Jewish state.

Idan has liberal views on a number of issues, and participated in the West Hollywood Pride parade this week. However, she is also outspoken on the increasing antisemitism on the left, including in the LGBT community:

Was glad to join @StandWithUs float at the #WeHoPride they threw a lovely show of solidarity. I was a bit disappointed by LAPD lack of effort when the Star of David float was followed & harassed by BDS supporters who shouted antisemitic slurs & had to confront them til they left. pic.twitter.com/C655APROjE

— Sarai (Sarah Idan) Miss Iraq (@RealSarahIdan) June 7, 2023

Idan is running in California’s 30th district, which includes Hollywood. The district also includes Glendale, the site of clashes between parents and LGBT activists over school curricula this week. Schiff is running for Senate.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.