Opposition MKs Blast Move To Revoke ‘Grandchild Clause’: ‘Damages Israel-Diaspora Relations’

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — MKs from the outgoing coalition organized an emergency meeting in the Knesset, claiming that revoking the ‘grandchild clause’ would “profoundly damage the Israel-Diaspora relationship.”

The revocation of the controversial clause, which allows those with one Jewish grandparent to attain Israeli citizenship, is a central demand of all of the religious parties. These parties see the clause as a threat to Israel’s identity as a Jewish state, since it encourages the immigration of non-Jews. Over 70% of those who immigrated in recent years from the former Soviet Union are not halachically Jewish.

Many Likud lawmakers agree with the demand, but it is unclear whether all will vote for cancelling the clause.

The proposal has been fiercely denounced by politicians from the outgoing coalition, as well as by top officials in international Jewish organizations such as the Jewish Agency and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, who have warned that such a move could cause irreparable damage to Israel’s ties to communities in the Diaspora.

One of the organizers of the meeting was Labor’s Gilad Kariv, a reform rabbi, as well as Yesh Atid’s Vladimir Beliak and Yisrael Beitenu’s Evgeny Sova. Speakers said that the proposed legislation would alienate world Jewry, including even second-generation children of a Jewish parent, who would not identify with Israel if their children could not receive citizenship there.

“Whoever raises a hand against the ‘grandchild clause’ raises a hand against the future of the Jewish people,” Kariv said.

Merav Michaeli, the Labor party leader, similarly warned that such a move would cut off masses of people who identify as Jews and who have a connection to Israel and Judaism.

“The Law of Return is the door to the Jewish people. Who would lock that door to half of the Jewish people?” she said.

Kariv stressed that the definition of eligibility for citizenship cannot be identical to the definition of who is a Jew.

National Unity party member Zeev Elkin, an immigrant from Ukraine, said that many Jews in the former Soviet Union consider themselves Jewish because of their names, even though they were born to gentile mothers and are not halachically Jewish

“In the former Soviet Union, if you see someone with a Jewish name, they’re probably not Jewish according to Jewish law. But they identify as Jewish. Now go tell them they can’t come here,” he said.

“Changing the Law of Return is dramatic and it’s important to know what the consequences will be,” Elkin added. “This will have repercussions on every non-Orthodox Jewish community in the Diaspora.”

MK Evgeny Sova argued that children of interfaith marriages should be encouraged to come to Israel as this would “strengthen their Jewish identity.” Other participants at the conference echoed this theme, stating that after a few years in Israel, the overwhelming majority of immigrants, even children of interfaith marriages, consider themselves “part of the Jewish people.”

The participants expressed their concern that Nativ, the organization overseeing immigration from the former Soviet Union, would be led by Noam’s Avi Maoz. Maoz, who in the past spearheaded immigration work, has spoken out against immigration by non-Jews and in favor of cancelling the “grandchild clause.” Participants said that he would use his control of Nativ, part of his new role as arbiter of Jewish identity in Israel, to prevent non-Jewish immigration.