Law of Return – a global Jewish issue

As reported on the front page of this issue, earlier this week, the South African Jewish Board of Deputies briefed the Jewish community on the Board’s response to potential changes to Israel’s Law of Return and how the Board, as the representative voice of South African Jewry, is engaging on this issue with its international counterparts and the Israeli government.

The Law of Return, which declares that “every Jew has the right to come to this country as an oleh [immigrant]” and gives Jews, people with one or more Jewish grandparent, and their spouses the right to move to Israel and acquire citizenship, is an issue of concern to world Jewry. For that reason, we’re taking it extremely seriously, as are all diaspora communities, and hence have been engaging on it with international and local role players and advocacy groups. The Jewish Agency for Israel is one of the foremost global Jewish bodies that have conveyed their concerns to the Israeli government. In our community letter, we provide a link to the relevant correspondence in this regard, and fully endorse the points and concerns raised. Israel’s minister of foreign affairs, Eli Cohen, has since sent a letter addressed to leaders of Jewish communities and organisations assuring diaspora Jewry that Israel, as the national home of the Jewish people, remains committed not only to its own citizens but to “every Jew in every corner of the world”. He further underscored his own “absolute commitment to strengthening the bond between Israel and the diaspora”.

It’s in such a spirit that the Israeli government and international Jewish leadership is addressing this sensitive matter. We’re therefore confident that together, we can find respectful, inclusive, and constructive solutions to the challenge at hand without harming the delicate fabric that holds us together as one united people.

African Union misses opportunity

We were also asked this week to issue a statement on the removal of Israel’s representative from the African Union (AU) summit opening ceremony. A core mandate of the AU is peace-making, and it’s well placed to mediate in conflicts within and around our continent. It’s such a pity that it missed an opportunity to place itself in a position to contribute in a meaningful way to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We call on the AU to convene the committee it committed to at the 2022 summit to confirm Israel as an observer at the AU.

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