Two bills were introduced in the Knesset today to grant Israeli citizenship to Jews abroad who want to settle in Israel but are prevented by circumstances beyond their control. One bill was submitted by the government, the other by Gahal MK Benjamin Halevy. Yesterday, the government proposed an amendment to the citizenship law that would automatically issue a “Teudat Oleh”–immigration certificate–to any Jew in Russia who expresses a desire to emigrate to Israel. The measure was drafted on the basis of representations made by Soviet immigrants here. The citizenship bills are also aimed primarily at Russian Jews. The government measure, presented to the Knesset by Interior Minister Joseph Burg, would give the Minister discretion to grant citizenship by proxy in certain cases. Such a measure, it is believed, might be helpful to Soviet Jews who are having trouble obtaining exit visas. Halevy’s bill was similar. The MK protested because the government’s bill was introduced first though he claimed to have originated the idea of proxy citizenship. Burg conceded that Halevy had been one of the first persons to deal with the subject. His bill was referred to committee.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
