In the latest of his inflaming proclamations, Interior
Minister Avraham Poraz (Shinui) informed Attorney General
Eliakim Rubinstein he supports granting citizenship based
solely on the Citizenship Law, a law that allows entry to
Israel based on "humanitarian reasons, uniting families,
identifying with Zionism or those whose endeavors make a
tangible contribution to Israeli society." Poraz told
Rubinstein he would like the State to assume this as its
official stance in pending High Court appeals filed against
the Interior Ministry for its refusal to grant citizenship to
goyim who undergo non-Orthodox "conversions," a
position that would effectively remove Orthodox conversion as
a condition for receiving citizenship.
In his efforts to grab headlines and torment the chareidi,
national-religious and traditional sectors, Poraz claims,
"The conversion procedure is being taken advantage of for
ulterior motives."
He said conversion as practiced today has led to the
settlement of Third World people in Israel. "As far as I'm
concerned it makes no difference whether the conversion was
Orthodox and certified by the Chief Rabbinate or Conservative
or Reform. Whoever wants to convert after receiving
[citizenship] would be able to do so, but then we would all
know the conversion was done earnestly and not in order to
gain benefits."
As in past remarks Poraz makes clear distinctions among
various population groups based on their land of origin. "A
more lenient approach should be taken and less suspicion
should be cast on applicants with citizenship from developed
nations than on those who come from Third World nations,
because people who arrive from developed nations do not
generally come due to economic incentives."
Mafdal Chairman MK Effie Eitam attacked Poraz' position
saying, "Such an irresponsible individual cannot be allowed
to handle such a sensitive issue." He announced he would
demand that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon revoke Poraz'
authority in this area.
According to reports last week the Interior Ministry already
began to implement Poraz' approach six months ago based on a
directive by the Attorney General then to stop granting
citizenship and new immigrant rights based on the Law of
Return to those who convert in Israel, claiming foreign
workers were taking advantage of the ability to undergo quick
and easy "conversions" at certain botei din.
Commenting on Poraz' remarks, a spokesman for the Vaad
HaRabbonim LeInyonei Giyur, founded by the late av beis
din of Antwerp HaRav Chaim Kreiswirth, said the present
official geirus system under the auspices of the
Israel Chief Rabbinate and run by a special court system has
proven over the course of many years to be a faulty system
that performs assembly-line conversions based solely on
knowledge, and fails to properly ascertain the conversion
candidate's true motives and whether he sincerely intends to
observe Torah and mitzvos.
"The Vaad calls on the Chief Rabbinate to set up a proper
conversion system to be manned exclusively by talmidei
chachomim with yiras Shomayim who would carefully
and properly evaluate the convert's sincerity. Under such a
system the Interior Ministry would be proud of these genuine
converts--who would be good citizens and would contribute
considerably to the State of Israel--and therefore would have
no qualms about granting them citizenship. In order to
accomplish this goal the number of people undergoing
conversion must be reduced and all candidates must be
properly screened. The politicians and so-called rabbis who
are calling for an expansion of the present conversion system
and a lowering of standards merely aggravate the problem and
cause goyim to enter Beis Yisroel."
