Death of soldier reopens debate about citizenship for non-Jewish Hebrew Israelites
Elishai Young, 19, who fell in Gaza, had not yet completed the 18 months of active duty needed for him, his mother, and his special needs brother to obtain Israeli citizenship
Sue Surkes is The Times of Israel's environment reporter
The death on Saturday in the northern Gaza Strip of Sgt. Elishai Young, 19, from Dimona, in southern Israel, reopens the decades-long campaign for state recognition of the non-Jewish Hebrew Israelites Community to which he belonged.
Young, of 401st Armored Brigade’s 52nd Battalion, was buried on Monday at the Dimona Military cemetery in the presence of IDF soldiers, and family and friends.
The Hebrew Israelites Community, which has around 2,500 members (down from 3,000 just a few years ago due to people leaving the country), believes it is descended from an ancient Israelite tribe.
It was founded in 1966 by an Afro-American, Ben Carter, a Chicago steelworker who renamed himself Ben Ammi Ben-Israel and claimed to be God’s representative on earth. The Dimona community put down roots in 1969.
In 2013, then-Minister of Interior Gideon Sa’ar decided that those who completed more than 18 months of military service would receive citizenship, along with their immediate family.
Young, his mother, brother, and late father were given permanent residency some years ago. But the soldier fell before completing those 18 months.
Asked whether citizenship would nevertheless be considered given the circumstances, an IDF spokesperson referred The Times of Israel to the Interior Ministry and the Population and Immigration Authority. As of press time, the latter had not yet given an answer.
Ashriel Moore, one of the community’s spokespeople, told The Times of Israel that Young’s father died several years ago, leaving his mother to care for him and an older brother who has special needs. “His mother is having a hard time,” Moore went on. “Elishai helped with the older son. She didn’t want him to go into a combat role. She said she only had Elishai to help.”
Moore said that the community observed three days of mourning, with people visiting a mourning tent and providing food and support for the family.
The community participates fully in local life and campaigns on behalf of Israel. Children attend local state schools; most eligible youngsters serve in the IDF.
The community does not subscribe to any particular religion, observes Shabbat and Jewish Holy Days mentioned in the Old Testament, circumcises its male children eight days after birth, and requires women to observe the biblical laws of purification.
It is not recognized as Jewish by Israel’s religious authorities.
In 2003, then-Interior Minister Avraham Poraz offered permanent residency to community members who had temporary resident status and had been in Israel for over a decade.
In 2010, some community members began to receive full Israeli citizenship.
But in 2021, the Interior Ministry’s Population and Immigration Authority ordered 51 individuals without status to leave the country within 60 days. All had entered Israel from the US as tourists and had remained illegally once their permitted three-month stay was up.
Moore, who is coordinating a campaign to stop the deportations, noted that some of those ordered to leave were born in Israel (where birth does not confer citizenship). Others had Israeli-born children. Those not eligible for US citizenship or who had given it up were stateless and had nowhere to go, he went on.
Five individuals have since left Israel. In February 2023, a court in Beersheba, in southern Israel, ordered the Interior Ministry to solve the problem.
Since then, however, the group’s lawyers, who are trying to secure permanent residency for the group, have been playing ping-pong with a court in Jerusalem, the Interior Ministry, and the Population and Immigration Authority.
“They keep asking for more documents,” Moore said. “For example, they ask people born and raised here who have never been to the US to submit a US police report [showing no criminal record]. ”
“We can’t produce all the documents being requested. We’re waiting to hear when there will be another court hearing. We remain in limbo. Slowly but surely, people are leaving. I think that’s part of the strategy. It’s like a war of attrition.”
He went on, “We’re trying to schedule another court date, but the ministry continues to kick the can down the road, asking for more time, saying they can’t appear in court because their lawyers are on IDF reserve duty. It’s a lot of nonsense.”
‘An inseparable part of us’
At Young’s funeral, a former deputy commander of the 401st brigade, Zafrir Har Shoshanim, praised him for his bravery and commitment, and noted that Young’s battalion commander was still fighting for his life, having been injured during the same incident just meters away.
“You fought like lions,” said Har Shoshanim. “You were proud of your family, your community,” he said of Young. “You helped your brother [with special needs]. You had a high level of commitment and insisted on being at the front. Your commanders knew they could depend on you. You were reliable, organized, willing to do anything from the smallest thing to the biggest. You were a special character. Also a man of music. Music was your life. You are an inseparable part of us.”
Before collapsing in tears, Young’s mother, Shiria, a widow, recalled how Young would call and promise, “Mom, don’t worry, I’m coming home.”
Friends and relatives spoke about a young man who tried to be the best in everything he did, including his studies, who insisted on going into an IDF combat unit; a man who was devoted to music, and could often be seen wearing earphones.
Benny Biton, Dimona’s Mayor, called on the government to grant citizenship to those in the community who don’t yet have it, particularly following Young’s death.
“100 percent of this community serves in the IDF,” the mayor said at the funeral, “and we’ve been living with them for nearly 50 years.”
