Miss Iraq had to flee her country after a picture of her posing with Miss Israel drew death threats on social media, Fox News reported.
Sarah Idan came under fire after she posted the picture, which shows herself and Adar Gandelsman at a Miss Universe International Beauty Pageant, to her Instagram account last month.
According to Fox News, the combination of the two women modeling in bikinis along with the photo caption "Peace and Love from Miss Iraq and Miss Israel" was volatile.
Gandelsman said the photo "caused a mess" for Idan back home, where people made threats against her and her family, stating that "if she didn’t return home and take down the photos, they would remove her (Miss Iraq) title, that they would kill her," The Times of Israel noted.
"Out of fear, they left Iraq at least until the situation calms down," the Miss Universe Israel contestant said about Idan and her family.
Idan has since apologized to those who took offense to the picture via a post on Instagram.
"I want to stress that the purpose of the picture was only to express hope and desire for peace between the two countries," she wrote, according to The Times of Israel.
She added that the photo of the two contestants posing together "does not signal support for the government of Israel and does not mean I agree or accept its policies in the Arab homeland."
Idan was born and raised in Baghdad and has worked with the American military since 2008, after the 2003 U.S. led invasion, The Daily Mail noted.
The Miss Universe Iraq contestant later moved to the U.S., where she obtained a degree.
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