Israeli Hasidic Teacher Detained Over Flag Protest Faces Deportation

In October 2023, town supervisor Michael Specht raised an Israeli flag outside the Ramapo, New York, town hall in solidarity after the Hamas attacks. About a month later, a group of anti-Zionist Satmar Hasidim, including Yehonatan Ovadia, organized a demonstration opposing the display. Surveillance footage showed men in traditional Hasidic dress removing the flag and cutting it with scissors. Ovadia drove several participants to the protest but says he did not take part in the removal and left when he learned of the act. He was initially charged with criminal mischief, petit larceny and conspiracy, all filed as hate crimes; the hate-crime charges were later dropped. In February 2024 he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct—a violation, not a crime—paying a $200 fine plus $125. The protest attracted roughly 20 Jewish demonstrators, including members of the fringe Neturei Karta movement.

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Ovadia entered the United States in 2022 on a religious-worker visa. When his congregation sought a visa extension in September 2025, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) requested police and court records related to the flag incident. In May, USCIS issued a split decision: it found Ovadia qualified as a religious worker but denied his continued stay, citing “adverse factors” such as the dropped hate-crime charges and his disorderly-conduct violation, as well as his refusal to identify others involved. Federal immigration officers detained Ovadia in August at a Manhattan immigration court and transferred him to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.

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USCIS emphasized that no conviction for a crime involving moral turpitude was found, yet exercised discretionary authority to deny his stay.

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Ovadia’s attorneys filed a 27-page lawsuit in Manhattan federal court, arguing that the Trump administration is conflating his anti-Zionist activism with antisemitism and retaliating against protected speech. They contend the immigration action reflects a broader crackdown on non-citizens involved in pro-Palestinian or anti-Israel activism.

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• “He’s against the Israeli government and the existence of the state of Israel for religious reasons, but to claim that he’s an antisemite is the peak of absurdity,” — Eric Lee, attorney

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• “We demonstrated for Gaza, for the liberation of Gaza, for the rights of the Palestinians and to show to the world that the Jews, real Judaism, want to have peace,” — Yehonatan Ovadia

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• “We wanted to express our opinion legally, peacefully,” — Yehonatan Ovadia

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• “He’s very, very devoted, and he is strong-minded,” — Rabbi Leibish Iliovits

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