A Hasidic Israeli man who participated in anti-Israel protests alongside members of Neturei Karta is facing deportation from the United States after being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Yehonatan Ovadia, 35, an Orthodox Jew from the anti-Zionist Satmar Hasidic sect, is originally from Israel. He moved to the United States in 2022 on a temporary religious-worker visa and participated in protests in New York and New Jersey against Israel, JTA reported.
Ovadia was detained by ICE in August and remains in custody in New York. His immigration status was revoked in connection with his participation in a November 2023 protest outside the Ramapo, New York, town hall, where an Israeli flag was removed.
Ovadia said he attended the protest but did not remove the flag and did not know beforehand that others planned to take it down. Hate-crime charges against him were later dropped.
He was one of two Hasidic men arrested following the protest. According to government documents cited by JTA, surveillance footage showed at least four men removing the flag and cutting it with scissors.
Ovadia was charged with criminal mischief, petit larceny and conspiracy as hate crimes. The hate-crime charges were dropped, and he pleaded guilty in February 2024 to disorderly conduct, receiving a $200 fine and an additional $125 charge.
His religious-worker visa was scheduled to expire in November 2025. In September 2025, he applied for a new visa sponsored by Congregation Bnai Yoel in Orange County, New York.
USCIS did not deny the work-visa request on the grounds of a conviction involving moral turpitude. Instead, the agency denied his request to extend his stay in the United States “as a matter of discretion,” citing his involvement in the 2023 protest, according to documents reviewed by JTA.
Without an extension, Ovadia no longer had legal status in the United States after his visa expired.
His attorneys have challenged the government’s actions, arguing that Ovadia is being punished for protected political and religious expression. They have sought his release from ICE custody.
Ovadia’s activism has included appearances with Neturei Karta, the anti-Zionist Orthodox Jewish group. He has participated in demonstrations in New York and elsewhere alongside other anti-Zionist Hasidic Jews.
At a hearing Wednesday, the government designated Israel as the country to which it would seek to deport Ovadia, according to JTA. His attorney, Chris Godshall-Bennet, said the timing of any possible deportation remains unclear.
The Department of Homeland Security said Ovadia overstayed his legal status and refused to leave the United States.
“He will receive due process and remain in ICE custody pending the outcome of his immigration proceedings,” a DHS spokesperson told JTA.
DHS also defended the government’s handling of the case, saying the administration acted within its authority. Ovadia’s attorneys dispute the government’s characterization of his conduct and argue that his case involves religious and political expression.
Ovadia remains in ICE custody as his immigration proceedings continue.
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