MK Yisrael Eichler (United Torah Judaism) has called on fellow religious and right-wing politicians to support an amendment to the Law of Return that is due to come up for debate in the Knesset later on Wednesday.
The amendment was proposed by MK Betzalel Smotrich (Yamina-National Union) and would bar those with no Jewish parent from freely immigrating to Israel and gaining the significant state immigration benefits given to those who qualify for entry under the Law of Return.
Currently, anyone who has a Jewish grandparent) is eligible to immigrate to Israel under the Law of Return.
Smotrich has stated that his amendment is one step along the path to restricting immigration only to halakhic Jews (those who are Jewish under Jewish law) and pointed out that there are currently hundreds of thousands of non-Jews living in Israel as full citizens, who have no intention of converting to Judaism and no connection to the Jewish People (unless one counts anti-Semitism as a "connection").
Eichler stated earlier on Wednesday that, "The amendment proposed by MK Betzalel Smotrich will restore the Law of Return to what it was originally intended to be. It will restore the Land of Israel to the Jewish People, to being a warm home for every Jew of the Diaspora who wants to come here or send his children to learn here, to celebrate the Jewish festivals here, to visit the Land's holy sites."
"I call on all Knesset members from religious and national parties to support this amendment and hold a serious discussion on the essence of the Law of Return," he concluded.