Israel welcomed a record number of immigrants who are not halachically Jewish according to Orthodox Judaism over the past year, a report by the Population and Immigration Authority shows.
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Since the war in Ukraine began in February 2022, there has been a particular increase in the number of immigrants from Russia. This stems from the severe sanctions imposed on the country and the inability of Russian citizens to move to other countries which became off-limits for them.
Data showed that of the 51,000 people who immigrated from Russia, around 36,500 are not Jewish under the criteria set by the rabbinical authorities in Israel. Similarly, of the 14,000 people who moved from Ukraine, about 8,500 are not Jewish under the criteria set by Israel's Chief Rabbinate, which follows an Orthodox halachic interpretation.
In other words, almost 50,000 immigrants who arrived in Israel since February 2022 are not considered Jewish but are eligible to make aliyah under the Law of Return, in particular the "grandchild clause" that defines them as Jews based on their grandparents even if they themselves don't consider themselves practicing members of the Jewish faith.
The number marks the highest since 1991, a year that saw a record-breaking influx of immigrants, mostly not Jewish, from the Soviet Union after the fall of the Iron Curtain.
The non-Jewish aliyah continues and since the beginning of 2023, Israel has welcomed 8,000 more non-Jewish immigrants under the criteria set by the rabbinate, a figure that brings the number of Israel's non-Jewish and non-Arab population to about 520,000.
The grandchild clause, which a person with at least one Jewish grandparent to move to Israel, has been a source of contention in recent weeks as the new government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu seeks to cancel it due to fears of it significantly altering Israel's demographic makeup.
Dr. Netanel Fisher, who conducted the analysis for the Population and Immigration Authority, said that the data necessitates an urgent public discourse.
"In my opinion, there is no choice but to update the Law of Return," he said. "Even those who disagree cannot deny the fact that the Law of Return has become a law for non-Jewish immigration. The current wave of immigration indicates that any large aliyah wave in the future will be non-Jewish in nature, so Israel should start preparing for the dire consequences of the change in the nature of immigration to Israel."
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