Likud MK Yuli Edelstein on Tuesday criticized his party’s prospective coalition partners for demanding to abolish the so-called grandchild clause in the Law of Return, which would stiffen the conditions to automatically qualify for citizenship.
Speaking at the Knesset during an event on aliyah, the Hebrew term for Jewish immigration to Israel, Edelstein — who himself immigrated from the Soviet Union — warned that tampering with the clause could lead to the demise of the entire Law of Return.
“Leave the Law of Return in peace,” he urged.
The law’s “grandchild clause” allows anyone with at least one Jewish grandparent to immigrate freely to Israel so long as they do not practice another religion. Many immigrants to Israel from the former Soviet Union obtain citizenship under this clause.
The ultra-Orthodox Shas and United Torah Judaism parties, as well as the far-right Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit factions, have demanded changes to the law during coalition talks with presumptive prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud.
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“I hear a lot of talk about the need and demands to change the Law of Return’s grandchild clause. I want to say this to you: In five years there will be no Law of Return in Israel,” Edelstein said, as others will demand further changes for various reasons.
Knesset Speaker Mickey Levy of the Yesh Atid party, who is set to be replaced next week, backed Edelstein’s remarks.
“This house must not touch the Law of Return,” Levy said.
Otzma Yehudit MK Amichai Eliyahu argued to the Knesset that part of the reason for wanting to adjust the rules is to prevent large sums of money being spent on “people who afterward leave the country.”
“There is no cost-benefit [consideration] on immigration,” Levy retorted. “There is only benefit.”
Levy went on to note the contribution that the influx of immigrants from the former Soviet Union has made to the country over the past several decades.
“Come as much as you want,” he said, in remarks addressed to Jews in the Diaspora. “Grandchildren, great-grandchildren, as much as you want, you will be welcome.”
Despite the demand by its allies, Likud is expected to oppose a move to abolish the grandfather clause, the Kan public broadcaster reported last week. Likud is the largest party in a right-religious bloc that won a majority of Knesset seats in the November 1 election and is now negotiating to form the next government.
Doron Almog, who is chairman of the Jewish Agency that promotes immigration to Israel, has warned that restricting Jewish immigration could alienate the Jewish diaspora.
