Global beauty giant Sephora to open first Israeli stores this month

Sephora will open its first stores in Israel on Aug. 20, according to widespread reports across Israeli media and social media on Sunday – a long-awaited arrival that has generated considerable excitement among local consumers.

The first stores are set to open at Tel Aviv's Azrieli Center, Ramat Gan's Ayalon Mall and Jerusalem's Malha Mall. Initial product offerings will be limited to Sephora Collection, the retailer's own in-house brand.

The name itself carries a fitting resonance. Sephora has said its brand name blends the Greek word sephos, meaning beauty, with the name Tziporah – rendered Séphora in French – the biblical wife of Moses, described in scripture as exceptionally beautiful. It's a name with roots in the very land the brand is now entering for the first time.

If the Israeli market proves successful, the company plans to introduce a wider selection of popular international beauty brands over the next two years.

The opening comes as the global beauty industry, like many other sectors, operates in a dramatically changed environment since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel.

Antisemitic incidents have risen sharply worldwide since then, and antisemitic conspiracy theories and anti-Israel rhetoric have increasingly spread through social media and popular culture – a shift that has impacted Sephora directly.

In July 2025, Huda Kattan, founder of the billion-dollar cosmetics brand Huda Beauty, shared a TikTok video with her 11 million followers promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories, claiming that Israel orchestrated World War I, World War II, 9/11 and even the Oct. 7 massacre that killed 1,200 Israelis.

TikTok removed the video for violating its hate speech and misinformation policies.

Because Huda Beauty is sold in Sephora stores, the incident drew sharp attention from Jewish and pro-Israel advocacy groups. The Anti-Defamation League and JLens joined consumers in pressuring Sephora to drop the brand and hold Kattan accountable, warning of the danger of spreading such rhetoric to a global audience.

Sephora responded that promoting hate or misinformation does not align with its corporate values and that it was reviewing the matter internally, but stopped short of labeling Kattan or her brand as antisemitic.

Time will tell whether last year's controversy will impact Sephora's debut or if Israelis will be willing to turn the other cheek.