Aliyah advocates have raised concerns over a new initiative that would force those applying to immigrate to Israel to prove their intent to live in the Jewish state permanently and are not only after a passport.
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The Interior Ministry is set to require all individuals applying to immigrate under the Law of Return to declare they plan to move to Israel "immediately" and "permanently," the Haaretz newspaper reported last week.
Applicants would be asked a series of questions to gauge how serious they were about immigrating and making Israel their new home.
The initiative aims to crack down on the "passport aliyah" phenomenon that sees people immigrate to Israel without any intention of staying to receive financial assistance and travel benefits.
The phenomenon has become increasingly common in recent years, as many immigrants have found that having an Israeli passport makes traveling the world easier, according to Haaretz.
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Israel's Law of Return stipulates that immigrant visas are to be awarded "to every Jew who has expressed his desire to settle in Israel."
Tomer Moskowitz, the director of the Interior Ministry's Population and Immigration Authority, said the new regulation would simply serve to enforce the law.
Aliyah advocates have argued the initiative misinterprets the law.
"The desire to settle in Israel doesn't necessarily mean that the move has to be immediate or permanent," said attorney Eli Nacht, deputy mayor of the southern city of Ashdod.
"It's part of an ongoing policy of restricting aliyah," he added, according to Haaretz.
"They need to realize… that this is a global world and people travel around a lot. Sometimes, they're not ready to decide where they want to settle permanently, and that needs to be respected."
i24NEWS contributed to this report.
