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Fewer Jews Among those Coming to Israel from Russia and Ukraine
By Moshe Barkai
The Jewish Agency report which was publicized this week as marking the end of the civil year, dealt with the immigration in Israel during the past decade. The reports show that over a quarter of a million people settled in Israel, hailing from 150 countries of the world, while by the end of this civil year, some 34,000 olim were expected to arrive. This is small compared to the waves of immigration at the 1990's of the past century, but by other standards the figures are high.
However, alongside the joyful cries expressed that the State of Israel has continued to be a lodestone for Jews throughout the world, sad to say, the joy is misplaced since the bona fide Jewishness of these olim is low. Even the immigration of people through the Law of Return does not guarantee that these are halachically valid Jews, a fact that can flood Israeli cities with these questionable Jews and cause assimilation through marriage, chas vesholom.
A few days ago, the Interior Department's Bureau of Statistics regarding population and immigration, publicized a report showing that of 180 thousand olim who arrived between the years 2012 and 2019, only 25 thousand, or one out of seven are certainly Jewish.
Further, as reported in greater detail through examinations from their countries of origin, it comes out that from Russia and the Ukraine, the statistics are much more worse. From Russia, for example, only 4% of the immigrants can be considered Jewish, while from the Ukraine, only 8% are legitimate Jews. From the other European countries, the figures are hardly more encouraging, showing, for example, that only 27% of immigrants from France can be recognized as Jews.
Perhaps, out of fear from the release of these statistics and their repercussions, or perhaps due to the uncertainty of their validity, the Interior Ministry showed alarm from the publication of this data and decided to reevaluate the figures, with the Authority of Population claiming hesitantly that "apparently, certain aberrations were registered at the time that the data was gathered so that the final findings are lacking precision." The government body stated that the facts will be reexamined, after which "we will publicize a revised and updated report." At this stage, no new report has been released and we will have to wait until such a revised assessment is carried out.
Faulty statistics?
Meanwhile, the Jewish Agency administration has decided to publicize a new set of statistics. According to their new report, some 97% of French immigration is halachically Jewish while only 3% are only eligible for citizenship according to the Law of Return. As for other countries, the Agency claims that the figures released by the Population Authority are not at all accurate and that "according to our understanding from examinations we made, the information is incorrect and the picture is altogether different."
It is conceivable to assume that this controversy still has a long way to go. It will be remembered that there is a problematic clause in an amendment to the Law of Return which is the crux of the controversy. In 1970, an amendment called "the clause of the grandchild' whereby sons and grandchildren of those eligible for immigration, including spouses, can also become Israeli citizens. This clause is particularly problematic since not all grandchildren are necessarily halachically Jewish, which is compounded by the uncertain Jewish status of the couple claiming to be so, with no data ascertaining or validating their Jewishness.
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