local
After Months of Delays, Israel
Permits Local Basketball Player to
Temporarily Live in the Country
ANDREW LAPIN | JTA.ORG
I srael has granted a temporary res-
idency to basketball player Jared
Armstrong, a Philadelphia native,
ending for now a months-long saga of
multiple rejections, accusations of rac-
ism and petitions by influential people
including an American investor and a
rabbi with close ties to President Joe
Biden. The Jewish Exponent first wrote about
Armstrong’s case in the Feb. 24 issue.

Israel’s Interior Ministry, which han-
dles citizenship applications, told the
Jewish Telegraphic Agency of its decision
on May 8, three weeks after Armstrong’s
tourist visa expired and one week after
the ministry announced it would be
granting citizenship to Portuguese soc-
cer player Miguel Vitor.

The decision by Interior Minister
Ayelet Shaked to recognize Vitor as a
citizen, allowing him to play for Israel’s
national soccer team with the backing of
the Israeli soccer federation and the min-
istry of culture and sports, had proven
controversial. Israeli media questioned why one ath-
lete had received preferential treatment
while Armstrong, who was raised Jewish
and underwent a formal conversion as
part of his citizenship bid, had seen his
case drag on with no resolution.

Armstrong had appeared on Israeli
television the day before Yom Hazikaron,
Israel’s Memorial Day, to press a case he
had advanced any way he could over the
preceding months. He told JTA on May
9 that he remains optimistic about secur-
ing citizenship in the future.

“It’s been very stressful, a complete
rollercoaster,” Armstrong said. “But I feel
OK that I’m one step closer to receiving
citizenship.” Armstrong’s rabbi, the Wilmington,
Delaware-based Michael Beals, had a
more pessimistic view of the situation,
lambasting Shaked for failing to grant his
charge full citizenship.

“I’m afraid the minister’s temporary
residence decision makes Jared depen-
dent on the state for welfare and support
as the basketball teams who want him
cannot employ him,” Beals said. “I’m
appalled — not grateful! I fear there is
no accountability in Israeli political gov-
ernance.” Beals said that Shaked “must do
teshuva [repentance] now and grant
Jared the full Israeli citizenship his case
deserves. Immediately.”
For now, temporary residency will
allow Armstrong, a former college ball
player for Slippery Rock University, to
live and work legally in Israel. Temporary
residency in Israel is valid for three years,
with the option to renew for an addi-
tional two.

But whether Armstrong will be able to
accept an offer to play for the Israeli club
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10 MAY 12, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
It is with great pride and joy that the Mason family
announces the bat mitzvah of their daughter and
granddaughter, Lyla Hailey, on May 7, 2022. Lyla shares
the honor of being called to the Torah with her maternal
grandmother, Bobbi Mason. A gala celebration will take
place at the Rittenhouse Hotel on Saturday, May 14, 2022.