Q&A: The Law of Return
The Law of Return
Question
In your view, is the above law racist / discriminatory / problematic?
In my opinion, no, because a non-Jew who is not an Israeli citizen cannot say that the State of Israel is preventing him from receiving something that is due to him. This is some kind of privilege granted to those whom the state wants to grant it to… kind of like state benefits for combat soldiers, which non-combat soldiers (like me) don’t receive. Do you agree?
Answer
Not exactly. There are non-Jewish residents of Israel who do not have the right to bring over their family members the way Jews do. Here, that already is discrimination. The question of whether it is justified is a different question. Beyond that, Jews from around the world are entitled to become citizens here, but someone who is not Jewish according to Jewish law (or at least whose grandfather was not) is not entitled to this. Here too there is an element of discrimination. In other countries, people who are not citizens do not have a right to come there, and therefore there is no discrimination there between groups.
Discussion on Answer
In my opinion, definitely. This is the nation-state of the Jewish people.
Especially since this is not about taking away rights, but about not granting additional rights, as I wrote in the last sentence above.
Does the Rabbi think it is justified?