Nearly half a million Israelis are recognised by the law of return, but listed as ‘others’ due to religious law. This is why that could be changing
In Israel, nearly half a million citizens are defined as “others” – a category for those who are neither “Jew” nor “Arab”. But the country’s Central Bureau of Statistics is getting ready to expand the definition of Jewish, in a move that would lead to wider recognition of 4.6 percent of the Israeli population in official publications on demographics.
Despite being recognised by the law of return, however, ‘the others’ are not falling under the category of Jewish by halakha, Jewish religious law. While descent by matriline, being born to a Jewish mother is what makes a person Jewish by the law, having at least one Jewish grandparent grants the right to immigrate.
Eliahu Ben Moshe, a demographer and statistician from the Hebrew University told Haaretz that the definition was “demeaning and problematic,” and even the top decision makers were aware of the problem., Moshe says the conclusion was already there, and Stern just happened to be the first person who proposed it.
“In the United States, it is accepted that children of mixed marriages get included in the tally of the Jewish population,” Moshe said, adding that the committee was more or less using that as their model.of the proposal was that the categorisation would put off those who fall under the category – a result that goes against Israel’s desire to convert non-Jews who immigrate to Israel.defined as “extended Jewish”, as well as members of other religious groups who are married to an Israeli.