World-class hunk, charming and extraordinary gentleman.

US President Barack Obama was given a ringing endorsement - not that he needed any - by the first black Miss Israel.

Mr Obama, who is on a tour of the Middle East, met Miss Yityish Aynaw on Thursday at the official state dinner in Jerusalem. The White House had requested her presence at the dinner, the Daily Mail reported.

After the dinner, Miss Aynaw, an Ethiopian Jewish immigrant who also goes by the name "Titi", gushed about her meeting with the American president.

In an interview with Yediot Aharonot, an Israeli publication, she said Mr Obama is one of the most exciting men she has met.

Obama and Yityish Aynaw, an Ethiopian Jewish immigrant to Israel, dined together at an official state dinner in Jerusalem, where the White House had requested her presence. Obama was in Jerusalem as part of a four-day trip to Israel, Jordan and the West Bank.

Aynaw, who goes by 'Titi,' made history a couple weeks ago by becoming the first black 'Miss Israel.'

After the dinner, Aynaw gushed about meeting Obama in an interview with the Israeli publication Yediot.

'He's an exciting man, a world-class hunk, charming and an extraordinary gentleman,' she said.

They were introduced by Israeli President Shimon Peres at the dinner.

"You are very beautiful," Mr Obama told her, according Israeli media. "And Michelle would have been very happy to be as tall as you are."

Miss Aynaw, 21, said she learnt about the president in school. She told CNN: "I did a research project about him in high school and I know he is a very powerful man, charismatic, and he achieved a lot on his own by virtue of the fact that he believed in himself and this stuck with me."

She was working as a sales clerk when a friend entered her name for the beauty pageant. She has lived in Israel since she was 12, when she was orphaned, and went to live with her grandparents.

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