Attempt To Amend Law Of Return To Exclude Gentile Grandchildren Fails To Impress Coalition

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Betzalel Smotrich is one of the most effervescent members of the Yemina party. When the party was in power and Smotrich served for a short time as Minister of Transport, he succeeded in placing his imprint almost immediately on the ministry and his sharp wit has usually succeeded in arousing the ire of the left and secular parties.

In the opposition however, Smotrich’s goal seems to be to embarrass the coalition. Recently he tried to bring a bill to establish a national inquiry over Supreme Court judges who served on panels even when they had ties to one of the sides. Smotrich scored publicity points as the issue was discussed frequently in the media, even though it did not pass in the Knesset.

Buoyed by this success, Smotrich decided to raise another issue which is vital to Israel’s Jewish identity- the issue of the grandson clause in the Law of Return. Israeli law allows for automatic citizenship for Jews. However a 1970 addition to the law allows even grandchildren of Jews to receive such citizenship, even though both of their parents are gentile. Based on this law, some 90,000 grandchildren of Jewish grandparents have entered Israel and received automatic citizenship over the past few years.

Smotrich claims that this will lead to heavy assimilation within Israel, which is struggling to maintain its Jewish identity and Jewish majority, currently about 74% of the population. Opponents of the change in the law claim that these people would have been deemed Jews by Hitler and murdered in the Holocaust, but Smotrich says that the amended law could allow for any grandchild of Jews persecuted because of his Judaism to receive Israeli citizenship, which effectively would stem the flow of gentiles entering the country and receiving automatic citizenship.

The law is necessary and important, but it cannot be used as a tool to embarrass the coalition. The Chareidi parties are doing their utmost to maintain Israel’s shaky government, deeming it prudent to avoid further unnecessary elections. For this reason they left the Knesset plenum when Smotrich raised his bill proposal in order not to have to vote against it. This left Smotrich to contend with the anti-religious elements in the Knesset, Yesh Atid’s Yair Lapid and Avigdor Liberman, whose constituencies include many of these gentile grandchildren of Jews.

For Lapid this was another opportunity to attack rabbinic Judaism, which he never fails to antagonize. On this occasion he chastised Smotrich, stating that “you won’t tell us who are Jews. You won’t tell us what Judaism is and you certainly won’t tell us who is Israeli and who is not Israeli.”

Quoting Yechezkel 47:22, Lapid claimed that the prophet intended to include even gentiles in the future division of the land of Israel: “And that will be what you allot as a heritage, for yourselves and for the strangers who dwell in your midst, who will beget sons in your midst, and they will be to you as citizens among the children of Israel; with you they will inherit of the inheritance in the midst of the tribes of Israel.” Lapid claimed that this proves that even gentiles who cast their lot with the people of Israel deserve a portion in the land of Israel.

Lapid concluded that “these grandchildren of Jews who come from the former Soviet Union and serve in the IDF contribute more to the state than all your extremist rabbis together. Who are you to determine if they are Jews or not? Worthy of citizenship or not? Who are you and who are your rabbis? Insolent people!”

Realizing that he had no majority, Smotrich withdrew the bill, promising to bring it back at a later date when the opportunity will arise.