Kuwaiti man considers himself a religious Zionist Jew

In August, someone who calls himself Naftali Benya offered his first tweet. He wrote in Hebrew, "Good morning to all."

בוקר טוב לכולם

— Naftali (@naftali_benya) August 25, 2019

This was followed by a tweet in September which was much more interesting:

כן אני יהודי
אני לא מתבייש
ולא מפחד
יש לי רק יראת אלוהים
אני יהודי ואני גאה
ואם אתם חושבים שזה מטורף
אתם תתביישו

— Naftali (@naftali_benya) September 24, 2019

Yes I am Jewish
I am not ashamed
and not afraid
I have only fear of God
I am Jewish and I am proud
and if you think it is crazy
you should be ashamed

It turns out that Naftali is Youssef Al-Mebhanna from Kuwait. He grew up a Muslim but when he was twenty, after speaking with a friend from Qatar who asked him for proof Israelis are murderers, he realized that he was being told lies all his life. He became interested in Judaism and Zionism, and even though he never had a formal conversion he puts on a talit and tefillin every day, and he learned Hebrew from watching Israeli comedies.

Here is his interview and story, in Hebrew:



Last week he tweeted, in English:

Last week in Kuwait I was about to get arrested by the authorities for my support to the Jewish right in the land of Israel. I quickly booked a flight to London where I am right now. Baruch HaShem I am in London right now and I'm safe and sound. I will keep you guys updated.

— Naftali (@naftali_benya) December 5, 2019

Naftali is now in England where he hopes to convert to Judaism and then make aliyah to Israel.

He sounds like a remarkable young man.

(h/t Yoel)

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