Just last month, NBA All-Star and Hapoel Jerusalem center Amare Stoudemire received Israeli citizenship at the Minister of Interior, Aryeh Deri’s office in the capital city.

Surrounded by Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion, Hapoel Jerusalem owner Eyal Homsky, CEO and General Manager Guy Harel, Deri stated that, “Amare is an international player who will be a worldwide ambassador for the State.”

At the festive gathering Stoudemire who also goes by his Hebrew name Jehoshaphat was presented with his Teudat Zehut ID Card and citizenship papers. “This has been a pretty exciting moment for myself,” he began. “My body is filled with so many different emotions. My love for Israel is something that has been growing for a long time. For me to be at a moment where I can truly be a part of Israel is special.”

“I am very excited. My learning since I was a youth brought me to visit Israel and eventually living and playing for the team here in Jerusalem just shows that if you stay consistent with your learnings you never know what can happen in the future. It’s definitely been a blessing for me.”

STAT also spoke about playing for Israel going forward, “Representing Israel on a sporting point of view is very important to me. Hopefully in the near future I will be able to represent Israel on a national level and world level in the realm of sports.”