More Than Half Of New Immigrants To Israel In 2018 Were Not Considered Jewish
Image by Getty Images
JERUSALEM (JTA) — More than half of the immigrants to Israel in 2018 were not recognized as Jewish under religious law.
According to end of the year data released by the Central Bureau of Statistics, of the 30,300 immigrants who arrived in Israel last year under the Law of Return, some 12,600 were recognized as Jewish and 17,700 were not.
That means 54 percent of the new immigrants are not Jewish. Some 39 percent are recognized as Jewish and 7 percent are Arab.
Under the Law of Return, anyone with a Jewish grandparent can immigrate to Israel. But he or she must have a Jewish mother in order to be registered as Jewish.
Most of the immigrants came from Russia, Ukraine, France and the United States.
Up to 400,000 citizens of Israel are registered as “lacking a religion” by the Interior Ministry because they are not halachically Jewish.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
