Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

‘Emerging’ Jewish Groups Cheer Israeli Plan To Ease Visa Requirements

A government proposal to create a new status in Israel for people who have Jewish roots or belong to “emerging” Jewish communities was welcomed by leaders of communities that could be affected.

“This would be a big step forward,” Rabbi Gershom Sizomu, spiritual leader of the Abayudaya community in Uganda, told Haaretz. Members of that African community, who converted to Judaism over a decade ago, have seen some difficulties getting visas to study in Israel.

“Many of our members … would be thrilled to spend more time in Israel, especially to study,” Rabbi Barbara Aiello, the spiritual leader of a small congregation of self-identifying Bnei Anusim in Italy told Haaretz. Bnei Anusim are descendants of Jews who were forced to convert to Christianity during the inquisition.

Another group which could potentially be effected is the community of Kaifeng Jews in China, who have recently experienced government pressures because of their faith. Barnaby Yeh, an American activist who has been involved in the community expressed some skepticism about the implication that Kaifeng Jews would be interested in moving to Israel at all.

“The vast majority of them are either unable or unwilling to leave the city, let alone the country,” he told Haaretz. “The desire to emigrate has been grossly exaggerated.”

Last month, Haaretz reported on details of the still unpublished report, which is a project of the Diaspora Affairs Ministry. The committee drafted guidelines on how Israel should treat individuals with a connection to the Jewish people or Judaism — but who do not qualify as Jewish under Israeli law.

Email Sam Kestenbaum at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter at @skestenbaum

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.