David Yair Keltjens (or Klatins, he, דוד יאיר קלטינס; born 11 June 1995) is an Israeli professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a defensive midfielder or as a defender for club

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an old ...

Early and personal life

Keltjens was born in

Mevaseret Zion Mevaseret Zion ( he, מְבַשֶּׂרֶת צִיּוֹן, literal meaning: Herald of Zion – Jerusalem) is a suburb of Jerusalem with the administrative status of a local council. Mevaseret Zion is composed of two distinct older townships, Mao ...

, Israel; to his father Yossi Keltjens who is of Dutch origin; and to his mother Flori ( Ben-Harush) who is of Moroccan Jewish descent and hails from the neighborhood of Katamon in Jerusalem, Israel. He has a sister named Emily, and a brother named Michael. His late maternal grandfather was also a footballer in Morocco. He was enlisted and served in the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

. He also holds a Dutch passport, which eases the move to certain European football leagues. He has been in a relationship with his Israeli girlfriend Yael Alexandra Gold since 2021.

Club career

Beitar Jerusalem

From age 6 to 8, Keltjens was part of the Hapoel Tel Aviv Youth Academy. At the age of 12, he joined the Beitar Jerusalem youth system, where he eventually also made his senior debut for the senior club of Beitar Jerusalem in an Israeli Premier League away match against Maccabi Tel Aviv, which ended in a 2–4 victory for his team; on 26 October 2015.

Hapoel Be'er Sheva

On 25 June 2019, he signed with Israeli Premier League club

Hapoel Be'er Sheva Hapoel Be'er Sheva Football Club ( he, מועדון הכדורגל הפועל באר שבע, ''Moadon HaKaduregel Hapoel Be'er Sheva'') is an Israeli football club from the city of Be'er Sheva, that competes in the Israeli Premier League. The cl ...

for five years. On 9 January 2024, Keltjens signed for Scottish Premiership side

on a deal until the end of the season.

International career

On 6 November 2016, Keltjens was first called up to the senior Israel national team, ahead of their match against Albania. On 24 March 2017, he made his senior international debut, coming on as a 60th minute substitute against Spain in a

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA) The European section of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification acted as qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, which was held in Russia, for national teams that are members of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). Apart from Russ ...

away match that ended in a 2–4 defeat for his native Israel.

Honours

Club

;Hapoel Be'er Sheva *

State Cup The Israel State Cup ( he, גביע המדינה, ''Gvia HaMedina''), is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in Football in Israel, Israeli football, run by the Israel Football Association (IFA). The State Cup was first he ...

: 2019–20, 2021–22 *

Super Cup A super cup is a competition, usually but not exclusively in association football, which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competitions during the prev ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

References

1995 births Living people Israeli men's footballers Jewish footballers People from Mevaseret Zion Footballers from Jerusalem District Beitar Jerusalem F.C. players Hapoel Be'er Sheva F.C. players Hapoel Tel Aviv F.C. players Israeli Premier League players Men's association football midfielders Israel men's under-21 international footballers Israeli people of Dutch-Jewish descent Israeli people of Moroccan-Jewish descent Israeli Mizrahi Jews St Johnstone F.C. players Israeli expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Israeli expatriate sportspeople in Scotland {{Israel-footy-bio-stub