Basketball player Jared Armstrong dreams of becoming an Israeli citizen and playing for Israel's Hapoel Haifa team, but his ambition continues to suffer setbacks as authorities keep rejecting his applications.
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"I was always raised a Jew," Armstrong told i24NEWS, explaining that after college he decided to formally convert to Judaism with the help of prominent Conservative Rabbi Michael Beals.
Israel currently only accepts conversions performed through recognized detonations and the Interior Ministry previously explained that it rejected Armstrong's application because it believed he only converted to play on the Israeli basketball team.
Beals himself has called the decision "racist," as Armstrong is black, according to the Times of Israel.
Armstrong said that Beals "didn't believe that I needed to convert [in the first place] because he accepted me as a Jew himself," but he went through the process anyway in order to meet the criteria and regulations outlined by the Interior Ministry.
"Since then, it's just been a hassle," he said. "I'm still here fighting and believe in my right to become a citizen."
Armstrong's application for Israeli citizenship was rejected by officials in the country for a second time in February. Armstrong explained that he met with Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked's advisor to plead his case, who later informed him that within a week to a month, he would be granted citizenship.
"Now I've been in the country two months, and I'm currently here illegally waiting for my citizenship to be granted to me," Armstrong lamented.
Armstrong is originally from Philadelphia and had previously played for the Slippery Rock University's team in Pennsylvania. According to Times of Israel, his father is not Jewish, and his mother converted through Congregation Beth El, a predominantly Black community in Philadelphia that is unaffiliated with any Jewish denomination.
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