Jewish Agency for Israel Chairman Maj. Gen. (res.) Doron Almog on Thursday told the Conference of 52 Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations he was against eliminating the Law of Return’s “grandchild clause.”
Almog, whose stellar military career included commanding the Air Force special force unit during Operation Moses, the covert evacuation of Ethiopian Jews from Sudan during a civil war that caused a famine in 1984, as well as a string of successful attacks on terrorist enclaves in Lebanon, told his audience: “Abolition of the Law of Return’s grandchild clause is unacceptable for us, out of genuine concern that it will create a rift among the Jewish people – both in Israel and among world Jewry. It stigmatizes sectors of the Israeli population that contribute to the state and are an integral part of it. This change would also detach millions of Jews around the world from Israel.”
The Law of Return of July 1950 gives Jews, as well as individuals with one or more Jewish grandparent––and their spouses––the right to relocate to Israel and acquire Israeli citizenship. It was amended in 1970 to extend the right of return to non-Jews with a Jewish father or grandfather.
MK Shlomo Karhi (Likud) argued last year that the amended Law of Return resulted in a whopping 72% of the olim in 2020 being gentiles.
One should keep in mind that olim are entitled to an “absorption basket” that includes many benefits. The first payment, NIS 1,250 to single individuals, NIS 2,300 to single mothers, and NIS 2,500 to couples, is handed to them upon their arrival at Ben Gurion International Airport, and the rest in six monthly payments. Altogether, the “basket” comes to NIS 19,829 for singles, NIS 32,055 for single mothers, and NIS 37,802 for couples.
MK Kahri suggested that not only is Israel investing billions in making sure thousands of gentiles have a soft landing in Israel (there are additional accommodations in free lodging, employment assistance, and free Ulpan), this investment is causing the altering of the religious makeup of Israel. Statistics show that although some gentile olim serve in the military, they show no interest in converting to Judaism and some have even established churches in the Jewish State.
The stunning figure of 72% non-Jews is limited to Aliyah from Russia and Ukraine. The rest of the data are a little less shocking: between the years 2016 and 2022, some 216,000 olim arrived in Israel under the amended Law of Return, out of whom 113,000 were Jewish according to Jewish law. So, not to worry, in the big picture, only 50% of the olim who land at Ben Gurion Airport to collect their checks are gentiles.
I did the rough math (so you won’t have to): 113,000 gentile olim times the average absorption basket cash payments over six years, which comes to NIS 10.1 billion. That’s $2.77 billion. This money could go to the Israeli kindergarten assistants and school teachers who went on strike this week because their salaries amount to slave wages. Why give the money to the gentiles of the world?
Here’s why – according to Doron Almog: “The State of Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people. It is the home of every Jew from all denominations and circles. We will promote an open and inclusive dialogue regarding the sensitive matters, for our brothers and sisters who live in Israel by virtue of the Law of Return, as we have a moral obligation to them.”
But they’re not our brothers and sisters! With all due respect, they’re not our Jewish brothers and sister.
Is Almog entitled to splurging close to $3 billion of Israeli taxpayers’ money on goyim? For heaven’s sake, an elementary school teacher in Israel makes NIS 7,000 a month – that’s barely more than the minimum wage! Shouldn’t the Jewish Agency Chairman be more concerned with the livelihood of Jewish Israeli than with thousands of gentiles?
Apparently not. The Jewish Agency, Almog insisted, “will continue opening the State of Israel’s gates for any oleh who meets the criteria established by the Law of Return, and for all members of the Jewish nation. This is our mission in ordinary times, and certainly in emergency situations.”
You heard the man.
