Dimona, a city on the edge of the nation of Israel's Negev Desert, has been Toveet Israel's home for 24 years. Her eight children were born here and know no other country. Now, she and 130 other undocumented members of the African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem face deportation.
Members of the Hebrew Israelite community sing together during a rally outside of the District Court in Beersheba, Israel, ahead of a hearing on the deportation orders for dozens from their community, Wednesday, July 19, 2023. The community's decades-long plight to secure their status shines a light on Israel's strict immigration policy, which grants people whom it considers Jewish automatic citizenship but limits entry to others who don't fall within that definition.
Over decades, the Hebrew Israelites have made gradual inroads into Israeli society. After years of bureaucratic wrangling, about 500 members hold Israeli citizenship, and most of the rest have permanent residency. Some fringe Black Hebrew groups in the U.S. hold extremist or antisemitic views, according to the ADL and the Southern Poverty Law Center. The community in Dimona does not espouse such beliefs.
They observe an interpretation of biblical laws formulated by their late founder that includes strict veganism, abstention from tobacco and hard alcohol, fasting on the Sabbath, polygamy, and a ban on wearing synthetic fabrics. "We're Judeans by our tribal affiliation," he said. "There's a long tradition and continuity of cultural connections that root us here in this land. We didn't just fall out of the sky."
In 2015, about 130 of them without documentation submitted requests for residency rights, claiming that authorities had reneged on earlier promises to legalize their status. The community's deepened integration into Israeli society over the years has made the idea of deportation especially painful. Dozens of young Hebrew Israelites serve in the Israeli military, and many work for Teva Deli, a vegan food manufacturer.
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