Ilay Elmkies

Ilay Eliyau Elmkies (or Elmakayes, עילי אליהו אלמקייס; born March 10, 2000) is an Israeli professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for the Israel national team.

Early and personal life
Elmkies was born and raised in Nahariya, Israel, to an Israeli family of both Mizrahi Jewish  and Sephardi Jewish (French-Jewish) descent.

He also holds a French passport, on account of his Sephardi Jewish (French-Jewish) ancestors, which eases the move to certain European football leagues.

Elmkies speaks Hebrew and English and has quickly mastered German. A film looking at the Jewish experience in the German village of Hoffenheim during World War II aired in 2018 at the Sinsheimer Citydome. He played a leading role, and provided commentary in all three languages.

Club career
A 1899 Hoffenheim youth product in Germany, Elmkies was promoted to the club's senior reserve team 1899 Hoffenheim II in 2019.

International career
He also plays for the Israel national Under-21 team since 2019.

Elmkies received his first call-up to the senior Israel national team in October 2019 ahead of the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifiers matches against Austria and Latvia. He made his senior debut on 15 October 2019 in a home match against Latvia; he was substituted in the 76' minute, as his native Israel won 3–1.

On 7 September 2020, he scored his first goal – an equalizer in the 91' minute for the senior Israeli squad in a 2020–21 UEFA Nations League home match against Slovakia, that ended in a 1–1 draw.

International goals

 * Scores and results list Israel's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Elmkies goal.