Amar’e Stoudemire, the New York Knicks star who claims
Hebrew roots and is currently touring Israel, is seeking Israeli citizenship.
Stoudemire’s agent, Happy Walters, told New York magazine
that the Knicks’ power forward is in the process of becoming an Israeli.
“He’s getting citizenship,” Walters said. ”He applied, and
he’s there now.”
Stoudemire went to Israel for the Maccabiah Games as the
assistant coach of the Canadian basketball squad. The games ended earlier this
week.
Stoudemire’s Jewish connections have been the source of much
media fascination in recent months. At his wedding last year to Alexis Welch,
Stoudemire donned a yarmulke and prayer shawl for the “Hebraic” ceremony.
In
July, he announced he had become a part owner in the Israeli basketball club
Hapoel Jerusalem.
And in an exclusive interview in Jerusalem last month with
JTA, Stoudemire said he is in regular dialogue with New York rabbis, studies
Torah and observes the High Holidays.
“I’m not a religious person, I’m more of a spiritual person,
so I follow the rules of the Bible that coordinate with and connect with the
Hebrew culture,”
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