Almost 50% of the immigrants from Russia and Ukraine come to Israel thanks to the ‘grandchild clause’ in the Law of Return: this is a significant increase since the 1990s, when only about 10% of the non-Jewish immigrants immigrated through this clause.
Now Israel Hayom reveals that even if the ‘grandchild clause’ is repealed – as was agreed upon in the coalition agreements – thousands of Gentiles will still immigrate to Israel every year.
The ‘grandson section’ currently allows a non-Jew to receive ascendant status, provided that he is at least a grandson of a Jew. But in fact, by virtue of this section Gentiles who are the great-grandsons of Jews also enter Israel – mostly children or teenagers immigrating with their parents.
Today, about 70% of immigrants to Israel are gentiles, so with the cancellation of the ‘grandchild section’ there will be a significant decrease in their number. But at the same time – there are still tens of thousands of Gentiles of the first degree – children of a Jewish father or spouses married to Jews – who will still be able to immigrate, even after the cancellation of the clause.
“Even if the grandson section is amended, many non-Jews will be able to continue to immigrate to Israel,” explains Dr. Nathaniel Fisher, a lecturer at Sha’ari Mishpat College and an expert in the field of immigration and immigration to Israel.
Fisher conducted a first-of-its-kind study based on data he received over decades from ‘Netiv’ – the agency that issues the immigration visas to Israel.
“For example, it is very likely that a grandson of Jews will still be able to immigrate together with his parents. On the other hand, amending the section will prevent the immigration of more distant relatives – that is, adult grandchildren and their families, who in recent years constitute a very considerable proportion of Russian and Ukrainian immigrants.”
The numbers provided by Dr. Fisher, which are revealed for the first time, indicate a massive increase in the use of the ‘grandchild section’, since immigration to Israel from the countries of the former Soviet Union began – as most of the immigrants were Jews who came to Israel after the fall of the Iron Curtain.
In 2000, the proportion of immigrants using the section was already 28%, and in 2010, 38% of immigrants arrived through it. As of 2020, about 48% of immigrants to Israel do so thanks to the ‘grandchild clause’.
It was recently published in Israel Hayom that, following the war between Russia and Ukraine, about 52,000 people immigrated to Israel – of which about 40,000 were Gentiles, the vast majority from Russia.
The explanation is that about 20 thousand of them immigrated in 2022 through the ‘grandchild clause’.