Board joins outcry against changing Israel’s Law of Return

The South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) has joined an international call to stop the Israeli government from changing the more than 70-year-old Law of Return that gives all Jews the right to emigrate to Israel.

“We’re taking the Israeli government’s proposed amendment to the Law of Return, and how it could affect Jewish communities in the diaspora, extremely seriously, and have been engaging on this important issue with international and local role players and advocacy groups,” the SAJBD wrote in a letter emailed to members of the South African Jewish community on 21 February. “The SAJBD is committed to protecting the civil rights of all South African Jews.”

Israel’s Knesset passed a law in 1950, beginning with a few simple words that defined Israel’s central purpose: “Every Jew has the right to immigrate to this country.” This became the sacred Law of Return (LOR), ending 2 000 years of wandering and exile.

Currently, the LOR grants Israeli citizenship to anyone with at least one Jewish grandparent provided they don’t practice another religion and pose no danger to public health, state security, safety, or the Jewish people as a whole. Essentially, all Jews everywhere are Israeli citizens by right.

But religious parties in the new Israeli government are looking to revoke this “grandchild clause” and limit the LOR only to those who are Jewish according to halacha and their children. According to halacha, someone is Jewish only if their mother is Jewish.

On 1 January 2023, the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAI) and heads of top international Zionist groups sent a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressing the importance of Jewish unity and raising “deep concern” that his government could undermine that by altering the LOR.

The SAJBD has joined this call, endorsing the JAI letter in the message it wrote to the community. “The JAI’s mission is to ensure a secure, diverse, and thriving Jewish people united by a shared heritage and commitment to Israel. The SAJBD shares this mission and fully endorses the points and concerns raised.

“The LOR speaks deeply to our Jewish identity, and brings together world Jewry as a united, global community. We’re 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. To this end, the SAJBD will work together with the Israeli government and all stakeholders to ensure the continued well-being of the entire Jewish people.”

SAJBD National Chairperson Professor Karen Milner explained why the SAJBD had taken this on. “The proposed changes to the LOR have been discussed across diaspora communities, and there has been concern from within our own community about how these changes will affect us. We felt it was important that our community knows that we take its concerns seriously regarding such a fundamental matter that goes to the heart of Jewish identity.

“It’s hoped that any changes will be made in consultation with diaspora communities and in a way that ensures they are inclusive,” says Milner. “The Israeli foreign affairs minister certainly suggests that this will be the case. But given how sensitive this issue is, it’s important to make our voice heard on anything that could potentially negatively affect our community. We’re also in contact with the Israeli ambassador on this issue.”

The SAJBD therefore joins a mix of Israelis and diaspora leaders who signed the JAI letter, namely Doron Almog, the chairperson of the executive of the JAI; Mark Wilf, the chairperson of the Jewish Agency Board of Governors; Steven Lowy, the chairperson of the World Board of Trustees of Keren Hayesod; Sam Grundwerg, the world chairperson of Keren Hayesod; Eric Fingerhut, the president and chief executive of the Jewish Federations of North America; Julie Platt, the chairperson of the Jewish Federations of North America; and Yaakov Hagoel, the chairperson of the World Zionist Organization.

“It’s our duty to share with you our deep concern regarding voices in the government on issues that could undermine the long-standing status quo on religious affairs that could affect the diaspora,” the Jewish leaders wrote. “Any change in the delicate and sensitive status quo on issues such as the LOR or conversion could threaten to unravel the ties between us.

“We know that the unity of the Jewish people is as important to you as it is to us,” they wrote. “It’s this unity that explains the miracle of our survival as a people and as a nation for more than 3 000 years. It allowed us to maintain a strong and cohesive sense of belonging to each other and to our common national home.

“We expect to be part of any future discussions or dialogue regarding possible changes to the status quo,” they wrote. “We’re determined to work together with you and your government to ensure the continued prosperity of the entire Jewish people, and we’re sure that together, we can find respectful, inclusive, and constructive solutions to every challenge at hand without harming the delicate fabric that holds us together as one united people.”

The coalition deals signed by the incoming government agreed to make some change to the LOR. The government is required to form a committee to hash out a Bill to amend the LOR and get it passed before the budget is approved by the end of March. If such a change is introduced, an estimated three million people around the world – about two-thirds of them in North America – would lose their right to aliya.

Says South African Zionist Federation (SAZF) National Chairperson Rowan Polovin, “A key mandate of the SAZF is the promotion and facilitation of aliya for South African Jewry. We have closely followed discussions about potential changes to Israel’s LOR, and are in ongoing contact with our partners at the JAI, the Israeli foreign ministry, and ministry of diaspora on this issue.

“We note that, at present, no substantive legislative processes have been initiated by the Israeli government. Should these begin, we will, in consultation with our affiliates, make the South African Jewish community’s views known to the Israeli government and public as we have done previously on numerous issues that affect the relationship between Israel and our community.

“We note Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen’s recent letter to diaspora communities, in which he references discussion about the LOR and says, ‘You are our brothers and sisters, and nothing is more important than placing your concerns and reservations at the top of our agenda.’”

JAI representative and director of the Israel Centre, Liat Amar Arran, says, “We support the JAI letter and we’re glad the SAJBD is supporting it and standing with us.”

The rabbinic team of the Cape Town Progressive Jewish Congregation says it’s “deeply concerned” that changes to the LOR would “threaten the Jewish status of millions of Jews that live in Israel and the diaspora, and would severely harm the relationship between Israel and the Jewish world”.

“This will put Jew against Jew, something no-one wants to see. The Temple was destroyed for similar attitudes,” says Rabbi Malcolm Matitiani. “How will this serve or help the Jewish people?” asks Rabbi Greg Alexander. “All it does is make more suspicion, hatred, and fear. This contradicts basic Jewish values.”

In 1970, Israel’s LOR granted automatic citizenship not only to Jews, but to their non-Jewish children, grandchildren, and spouses, and to the non-Jewish spouses of their children and grandchildren. This addition not only ensured that families wouldn’t be broken apart, it also promised a safe haven in Israel for non-Jews subject to persecution because of their Jewish roots.

Eliminating the “grandchild clause” would primarily affect would-be immigrants from the former Soviet Union, largely due to cultural norms in those countries in which ethnicity is patrilineal. This probably explains why the Likud party is hesitant to change the law, as many of its voters hail from the former Soviet Union and support the LOR in its current form.