Ilay Elmkies

Ilay Eliyau Elmkies (or Elmakayes, ; born ) is an Israeli professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Israeli Premier League club Maccabi Bnei Reineh. He has been capped by 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.

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.

Career statistics

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

+ List of international goals scored by Ilay ElmkiesNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1 7 September 2020 Netanya Stadium, Netanya, Israel 1–1 1–1 2020–21 UEFA Nations League B