Will Likud Scrap Law Of Return’s ‘Grandchild Clause’? MKs Spar Over Legislation

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — All of Likud’s potential coalition partners, which are predominantly religious parties, are demanding that the Law of Return be changed. Currently, the law allows grandchildren of Jews to make Aliya and receive benefits even if neither of their parents is Jewish, as long as they do not practice another religion. In 2020, this meant that 72% of immigrants from former Soviet Union countries were not Jewish.

However not all Likud members are willing to toe the line and abolish the controversial clause. Likud MK Yuli Edelstein, himself a former Soviet Union immigrant, criticized the initiative at a Knesset meeting on immigration,claiming that it would destroy the entire Law of Return, as others will demand further changes for various reasons.

“Let’s not turn it into a Basic Law. Let’s not try to change part of it. Let’s not try to improve it. Leave it in peace,” he urged.

Edelstein may be concerned about some religious party demands to amend the law and allow only halachic Jews to receive citizenship, preventing millions of members of reform and conservative communities from being able to immigrate.

Otzma Yehudit MK Amichai Eliyahu argued to the Knesset that part of the reason for wanting to adjust the rules is to prevent large sums of money being spent on “people who afterward leave the country.”

Likud MK Shlomo Kar’i echoed this sentiment, stating that ” Most of the immigrants arriving are not Jewish, and 41% of immigrants this past year received a passport and benefits and returned to their home countries. This is not only a waste of public money, it is an existential threat to the future of the Jewish nation in this country, with rampant intermarriage and assimilation. It’s time to fix this, before the damage is irreversible.”

Kar’i stated that the grandfather clause was irrelevant and was meant for a different time in history when Israel was a “poor and persecuted country.” At that time “nobody imagined that many would immigrate to it for economic reasons.”

According to the Kan television channel, Likud is expected to oppose the bill to abolish the grandfather clause, but has yet to conclude forming the government and may eventually be forced to cave in to maintain its coalition.