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| Fifth Column | |
| Ultra-Orthodox anti-Israel protester living in US faces deportation to Israel | |
| 2026-10-03 | |
It’s not just Moslem Hamas supporters harassing Jews or narco gangsters, but anyone here who misbehaves. [IsraelTimes] Satmar …one of the biggest Hassidic sects, but unlike Chabad they turn their backs on the modern world… member Yehonatan Ovadia had his legal status revoked over protest in which he took down Israeli flag at town hall, has been held by ICE since August.
Now, he’s at risk of being deported there. Ovadia, 35, is originally from Israel and moved to the US on a temporary religious worker visa in 2022, according to the text of a lawsuit requesting Ovadia’s release. His legal status in the US was revoked earlier this year in connection with a November 2023 protest that he attended during which an Israeli flag was taken down from the town hall of Ramapo, New York. Ovadia said he was there but did not tear down the flag, and hate crimes charges against him were dropped. But after a request to extend his stay in the United States was denied on the grounds of that protest, according to government documents shared with JTA, Ovadia was detained by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency in August and remains in ICE custody in New York. “In violation of our nation’s laws, he overstayed his welcome and refused to depart,” a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “He will receive due process and remain in ICE custody pending the outcome of his immigration proceedings.” ICE’s nationwide surge affected the area’s Jewish community earlier this year when the agency detained Ari Ladino, a Jewish bridal shop owner in Teaneck, New Jersey, and his mother. Both are originally from Bogota, Colombia. Ovadia’s arrest by ICE comes as US President Donald Trump’s administration has cracked down on pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel activism, including last year’s high-profile detention of Mahmoud Khalil, a prominent anti-Israel protest leader at Columbia University. The administration has accused Khalil and other pro-Palestinian activists and campus protesters of antisemitism. Such an accusation would be particularly fraught against Ovadia, who is Jewish and holds anti-Israel views for religious reasons. Satmar Jews believe that a state of Israel cannot be established before the arrival of the Messiah. In a lawsuit filed in August requesting Ovadia’s release, his lawyers argued that the Trump administration was penalizing him for protected speech motivated by religious beliefs. The government took “an official position,” Ovadia’s lawyers wrote, by preferring “one religious position within Judaism and [penalizing] an adherent of another.” Unlike many Satmar Jews, who oppose Israel but are not active in political pro-Palestinian spaces, Ovadia has protested against Israel a number of times, including alongside members of the anti-Israel Hasidic group Neturei Karta. | |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
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