Bar Rafaeli

Bar Refaeli (Hebrew: בר רפאלי‎, born June 4, 1985) is an Israeli model, known for her modeling work and for her relationship with American actor Leonardo DiCaprio. She is the 2009 covermodel of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.Bar Refaeli was born in 1985 into a Jewish Israeli family in Hod HaSharon, Israel. Her parents, Tzipi and Rafael, own a horse ranch.^[3] She began a modeling career at the age of eight months, appearing in commercials.^[4] She had to wear braces in her early years, postponing her modeling. At age 15, Refaeli returned to modeling with the representation of Irene Marie Models. In 2007, Refaeli became a source of controversy when it became known that she had evaded military service, mandatory for Israeli citizens over 18-years-old, by marrying a family acquaintance and divorcing him soon after.^[19] Refaeli stated in an interview with Yedioth Ahronoth, "I really wanted to serve in the IDF, but I don't regret not enlisting, because it paid off big-time," further adding, "Why is it good to die for our country? What, isn't it better to live in New York City?"^[19] Refaeli has since said the interview didn't accurately reflect her statements and threatened to file a lawsuit for libel.^[20] Consequently, the Israeli Forum for the Promotion of Equal Share in the Burden threatened to boycott the fashion chain Fox if they hired Refaeli, but the two sides reached a compromise in which the model agreed to visit injured IDF soldiers on visits to Israel and encourage enlistment in the army.^[21]