A recent Immigration and Absorption Ministry report proposes
a change in the Law of Return to reduce the number of non-
Jews immigrating to Israel and to deal with the inequities
and distortions that have resulted from the demographic
changes since the original law was passed and amended.
The report includes proposals to allow immigration rights
only to the non-Jewish children and spouses of Jews, but not
their non-Jewish grandchildren, who may immigrate under the
present law. Grandchildren would be allowed to enter the
country and become naturalized, but only within the framework
of the Law of Entry, which is valid for everyone and does not
grant automatic citizenship.
Other proposals include: The adult children of non-Jewish
grandchildren of Jews would not be allowed to immigrate, even
under the Law of Entry, which currently allows even great
grandchildren to enter; Only children born to new converts
after their conversion would be eligible to immigrate under
the Law of Return, which today allows all of the convert's
children and grandchildren to immigrate, even though they are
completely non-Jewish and have no special feeling or
allegiance to the State of Israel or the Jewish people; Part
of the absorption financial package intended to help
immigrants make ends meet, would be allocated, with the
immigrant's consent, to studying at ulpan and for Judaism
classes in general; Naturalization for those entering under
the Law of Entry would not be automatic, as is the case
today, but would be granted only after the applicant passes a
number of tests, including on the language, history,
geography and politics of Israel.
According to official statistics, the percentage of declared
non-Jews among immigrants of the former Soviet Union has
consistently risen since the wave of mass aliya began in
1989. During 1999, 57 percent of the immigrants were non-
Jewish, and a sampling of 100 new immigrants found that 75
were not Jewish, and had arrived under the Law of Return.
The report also presents the case of a Jewish immigrant who
"made ten non-Jewish family members eligible for immigration,
five under the Law of Return, and the other five under the
Law of Entry."
A study recently made of potential immigration from former
Soviet countries showed that the number of remaining Jews
stood at 540,000, while the number of persons eligible to
immigrate was almost double that at 1,046,000. Though they
are not currently arriving in force, demographic experts say
that the proportion in the United States is similar, though
the numbers are much bigger.
The report's authors point out that the impetus to limit non-
Jewish aliya was the fear that this group would eventually
align itself with non-Jewish citizens within the state and
demand to change the Jewish character of the state.
