Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef
Rabbi Yitzhak YosefYaakov Cohen

I said clearly and I say again: alongside most of the blessed immigration of hundreds of thousands of Jews from the former Soviet Union who have spent many years to guard the spark of Judaism, there are a minority of halakhically non-Jewish immigrants who entered under the clause of the Law of Return that permits those whose father and mother are not Jewish to make Aliyah.

During my visit last month to Jewish communities flourishing in Russia and Ukraine, I was exposed to the harsh criticism that exists among these communities for bringing many non-Jews to Israel.

Those who bring masses of gentiles to Israel through this clause for outside considerations, act unfairly first and foremost towards those immigrants and present to them at every stage of their lives an impossible reality for them in a Jewish State. The revision of the Law of Return is first and foremost in the interest of the immigrants.

Of course, alongside the criticism, we as Jews must accept every resident of this land and appreciate their contribution to us as a society, and our teachings teach us to respect every person who is a human being created in the image of G-d.

It is very unfortunate that there are those who feel themselves harmed by the way things are blatantly distorted by interested political parties who have been inciting for months against the tradition of Judaism and Halakha, and it is important to state matters of Torah accurately and truthfully.