An infamous Australian-Israeli far-right social media personality denied entry to New Zealand once before, was allowed into the country and is being hosted by Destiny Church. 

Avi Yemini said in a video posted on X he was in New Zealand to “tell the other side of the story” about the church and its leader Brian Tamaki. 

The Melbourne-based social media personality, known for his extremist far-right ideology and comments, was banned from Facebook for violating its hate speech rules. 

There are several videos of Yemini speaking at Man Up events this week, on off-shoot of the Destiny Church. On its website, Man Up says its mission is to help members overcome “domestic violence, anger, depression [and] addictions”. 

In the videos, Yemini said he was going to be in New Zealand for a “couple of weeks” immersing himself in the life of Tamaki for an article. 

Brian Tamaki . Photo / Alex Burton 

Yemini was convicted of unlawful assault against his former wife and sued by his brother for defamation. 

In a statement today, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment director of visas Jack Gilray said Yemini had declared his convictions, they were considered as part of the visa application process, and he was granted a visa. 

He said he would be following Tamaki around after being “impressed” by him and his work on a previous trip last year. 

The Herald has approached Destiny Church for comment. 

On his X account, (formerly Twitter), Yemini said he was here on “an epic mission that I can’t wait to share with the world”. 

Yemini was denied entry to the country in 2022 when he tried to join the masses at an anti-government protest at Parliament in August. 

Yemini told his followers that while he was checking in, Qantas informed him Immigration New Zealand had flagged his passport. He was later advised by an immigration officer he was being denied entry. 

He claimed the immigration officer said she made the decision after reading a story in the Herald. 

He was granted a visa in 2023. 

In June 2022, Victoria Police apologised to Yemini for wrongfully arresting him three times during protests in Melbourne in 2020 and 2021 while the self-described “citizen journalist” was filming for alternative media website Rebel News. 

In 2018, at a protest demonstration against the imprisonment of the far-right British activist, Tommy Robinson, in London, Yemini said he was “the world’s proudest Jewish Nazi”.