Immigration minister calls for scrapping Law of Return’s ‘grandchild clause’ without legislation

Seventy-two percent of new immigrants from Russia and Ukraine in 2022 are not Jewish according to Jewish law.

By World Israel News Staff

Israel’s new immigration minister called for the so-called “grandchild clause” of Israel’s Law of Return to be repealed without the need to pass new legislation, thereby restricting immigration only to people born to Jewish parents, not those with a Jewish grandparent.

Ofir Sofer, from the Religious Zionist Party, cited growing numbers of non-Jewish immigrants to the country as the reason for the proposed amendment. Seventy-two percent of new immigrants from Russia and Ukraine in 2022 are not Jewish according to Jewish law, or halacha.

The Religious Zionism, Shas, and United Torah Judaism parties are in support of scrapping the grandchild clause, which grants rights to people with Jewish roots stretching back three generations.

“In the past year, a considerable part of about 40,000 out of 55,000 who made Aliyah aren’t Jewish according to the halacha,” Sofer told Kan public radio.

“They are entitled [to immigrate because of] the Law of Return,” he said.

Sofer said his ministry will form a committee to resolve the matter. “A solution must be found without reaching legislation,” he said.

A day earlier, Interior Minister Aryeh Deri said it was incumbent on the government to “preserve as Jewish one country in the world.”

He cited the Law of Return, and its grandchild clause, as one of the obstacles in preserving Israel’s Jewish character.

The original Law of Return, which was unanimously passed in 1950, limited immigration to Jews, their spouses, and their children. The grandchild clause was not added until 1970, and was controversial at the time so was brought to a Knesset vote.