The Law of Return (1950) provides that every Jewish person in the world
is automatically entitled to “Jewish nationality” in Israel. Under the Law
of Return, a Jewish national is “born of a Jewish mother or has become
converted to Judaism and who is not a member of another religion”.139 Article
4(a) of the Law of Return provides that:
The rights of a Jew under this Law and the rights of an oleh140 under
the Nationality Law, (Nationality 5712-1952), as well as the rights of
an oleh under any other enactment, are also vested in a child and a
grandchild of a Jew, the spouse of a Jew, the spouse of a child of a Jew
and the spouse of a grandchild of a Jew, except for a person who has
been a Jew and has voluntarily changed his religion.
Thus, on the one hand, Jewish nationals enjoy the right to enter Israel even if
they were not born in Israel and have no connection whatsoever to it. On the
other hand, Palestinians – the indigenous population of the territory – are
excluded from the Law of Return on the grounds that they are not of Jewish
national origin, do not enjoy the legal status of nationals under any other
Israeli law, and have no automatic right to enter the country.
139 Schechla, “The Consequences of Conflating Religion, Race, Nationality, and Citizenship.”
140 An Oleh is a Jewish term referring to a Jew who is immigrating to Israel.
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