Majority of Israelis concerned over non-Jewish immigration, poll finds

62% of Israelis agreed that high rates of non-Jewish immigration pose a threat to Israel’s future as a Jewish state.

By World Israel News Staff

The majority of Israelis (62%) are concerned over the rising number of non-Jews immigrating to Israel and being granted automatic citizenship under the Law of Return, saying that the high non-Jewish immigration rates pose a threat to Israel’s future as a Jewish state, a new poll published on Monday showed.

38% of respondents to the poll, which was conducted by Geocartography and published by Chotam, did not perceive such a threat.

The poll also found that 59% of the Israeli public are in favor of amending the so-called “Grandchild Clause” of the Law of Return in which a person with one Jewish grandparent is eligible to immigrate – known as “aliya.” Conversely, 41% of the public oppose such an amendment.

The survey also showed that 63% of the public are concerned about the resulting drop in the percentage of Jewish Israelis. 37% of respondents were not concerned about this issue.

Amital Bareli, CEO of Chotam, a group that works to preserve Israel’s Jewish character, noted that there are approximately 10 million non Jews around the world who are eligible to immigrate to Israel under the Law of Return.

“From a demographic perspective, the Jewish majority in the country has lost 10% in the past few decades, and now it stands at just 74%. In the 50s, it was 89%,” he said.

Bareli also slammed the immigration policy led by MK Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu), claiming that Liberman’s strategy was to distribute Israeli passports to immigrants, which Bareli believes is detrimental to preserving the Jewish majority in Israel.