Friday, June 12, 1998
Rate of non-Jewish immigration rising
By Alex Somekh, Ha'aretz Correspondent
Some 27 percent of those who immigrated from
the former Soviet Union last year were not
Jewish under the Law of Return, and 43.6
percent were non-Jewish according to Jewish
law, data collected by the Nativ liaison
bureau has revealed. Jewish law states that a
Jew is someone born to a Jewish mother (or
converted), while the Law of Return also
covers anyone with a Jewish father, a Jewish
spouse, or a Jewish grandparent (if they are
accompanied by their Jewish parent or
grandparent).
The rate of non-Jewish immigration from the
former Soviet Union has been steadily
increasing, a Nativ official said, estimating
it as 35 to 40 percent (according to the Law
of Return) during the first quarter of 1998.
According to Nativ, which reviews the
credentials of would-be immigrants to see if
they are eligible under the Law of Return,
most of the non-Jewish immigrants are
relatives of a non-Jew married to a Jew,
great-grandchildren of a Jew or grandchildren
of a Jew not accompanied by the Jewish parent
or grandparent.
"The Law of Return has been breached from
every point of view," a senior official at
Nativ told Ha'aretz yesterday. "Immigrants who
have a Jewish grandparent, or whose
great-grandparents were Jews, arrive with
non-Jewish spouses, and the spouses then bring
their relatives here. What was a fairly
marginal phenomenon several years ago has
turned into a vast stream. In theory, the Law
of Return doesn't apply to them, but the state
grants them the rights of immigrants anyway.
The result is that in practice, it is
impossible to reject distant relatives who
have no connection to the Jewish people.
"For the past two years, a large portion of
the immigrants from the former Soviet Union
have been people who can't adjust to the new
life in Russia and are looking for refuge in a
country that will grant them minimal social
benefits," the Native official continued. "All
the professional organizations involved in
immigration are aware of the situation, but
since this is a sensitive matter, no one dares
publicize it, among other reasons, out of
fear that it would lead to the complete
abolition of the Law of Return or cause injury
to the various bodies that deal with
encouraging immigration.", Internal Nativ
reports classify new immigrants from the
former Soviet Union as follows: One whose
mother is Jewish (Jewish according to
Halacha); one whose father is Jewish (or half
Jewish); and one who is not Jewish but is
related to a Jew. The latter group includes
spouses of Jews and relatives of the
non-Jewish spouses. Whereas a non-Jewish
spouse is eligible to immigrate to Israel
according to the Law of Return, his or her
relatives, parents and siblings, are not
eligible. Nativ does not differentiate in its
records between non-Jewish spouses of Jews and
their relatives, and puts them all under the
category of "non-Jewish relatives."
A small group, of no more than several hundred
immigrants a year, includes
great-grandchildren of Jews, or those who
have a parent with a Jewish grandparent.
Great-grandchildren are not entitled to
immigrate unless they come with their parents.
However, the number of great-grandchildren
immigrating has grown in the past few years,
reaching 2.4 percent in 1997.
From 1990 through 1993, less than 15 percent
of 447,000 immigrants from the former Soviet
Union were non-Jewish. Of 68,100 immigrants in
1994, the percentage of non-Jews rose to 16.7
percent. Some 68.2 percent of the immigrants
had a Jewish mother or a Jewish grandmother
and 15.1 percent had a Jewish father and a
non-Jewish mother or had a Jewish grandfather.
Out of 64,800 immigrants in 1995, the numbers
were 19.5 percent non-Jews, 62.9 percent with
a Jewish mother or a Jewish grandmother and
17.6 percent with a Jewish father or
grandfather.
In 1996, 22.7 percent of 58,900 immigrants
were non-Jewish, 63 percent had Jewish mothers
or grandmothers and 14.3 percent had Jewish
fathers or grandfathers.
The percentage of non-Jews among immigrants
rose to 27.2 percent in 1997, with 56.4
percent of of 54,600 immigrants Jewish
according to Halacha and 16.4 percent with
Jewish fathers or grandfathers.
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