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Ugandan Jew receives Israeli citizenship after legal dispute

(JTA) — After seven years in court and four conversions, a member of the Jewish community of Abayudaya in Uganda is now an Israeli citizen.

Israel's Interior Ministry, which is responsible for processing naturalization applications, this month approved the application of Yosef Kibita, who first applied in 2018.

Israeli authorities had previously rejected immigration applications from the Abayudaya community, a group of about 2,000 Ugandans who began practicing Judaism a century ago after Ugandan statesman Semei Kakungulu converted to Judaism and began adopting Jewish customs. The Israeli government considers the Abuyadaya an “emerging” Jewish group and they are ineligible for citizenship without conversion.

Kibita, like many other members of the group, initially converted within the framework of the Conservative movement, which began conducting conversions for the Abayudaya in 2002. In 2008, it was the first Jewish movement to recognize the Abayudaya as Jews.

Conversion process

Kibita's first conversion as a child was not recognized by the courts. He underwent a second conversion in 2008, before any Jewish movement officially recognized the Abayudaya as Jewish. The Israeli Supreme Court then ordered him to convert again, but this was also not recognized because the Conservative movement did not require him to study, as he had already spent almost his entire life as an observant Jew.

On the first day of the appointment-free passport renewal, long queues form in front of the Interior Ministry office in Jerusalem. (Source: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)

His fourth and final conversion involved a nine-month period of study. Kibita lived in Ketura, a kibbutz in southern Israel with ties to the Masorti movement, Israel's equivalent of Conservative Judaism, and was nearly deported during his long immigration process.

“Ever since I arrived in Israel, I knew this was my home,” Kibita said in a statement. “I cannot describe how I feel at this moment after being recognized as an Israeli. I am shaking with joy and feel even more connected to the Jewish world than ever before.”

Kibita's conversion to the Conservative faith was overseen in Uganda by Rabbi Andrew Sacks, who died in late June. “It is as if he is fixing from above what he was trying to resolve until his last day,” Rakefet Ginsburg, executive director of the Masorti movement in Israel, said in a statement last week after Kibita was notified that he would become a citizen.

Ginsburg said Kibita's citizenship was a turning point for the often-contested status of non-Orthodox converts in Israel. Although Israeli law requires that their conversions be recognized for immigration purposes, many – particularly Jews of color – report years of hurdles in applying for citizenship.

“This victory belongs not only to Joseph, but to all who believe in a pluralistic and inclusive Judaism,” Ginsburg said. “It recognizes the legitimacy of diverse Jewish communities around the world and affirms the validity of conversions undertaken in genuine faith and commitment.”



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