Knesset Approves Law of Return Amendment; Wins Clear Majority on First Reading

The Knesset voted 69-15 last night to approve a controversial amendment to the Law of Return which equates Jewish nationality with the Jewish religion. There were 23 abstentions and four members of the Achdut Avodah faction of the Labor Party were absent. But the measure, sponsored by the Government with intense personal backing by Premier Golda Meir, won a clear majority on its first reading. It must stand two further readings in the Knesset but its final passage is virtually assured.

The bill, drafted by a Cabinet committee, stipulates that only persons who are Jewish according to the halachic (religious law) interpretation may be registered as Jewish by nationality. This excludes persons not born of a Jewish mother or not formally converted to Judaism. It provides however that the non-Jewish spouses, children and grandchildren of immigrants be accorded the same rights and privileges as Jewish immigrants.

The amendment was supported by all members of the Labor Party who voted, by the National Religious Party and the Herut wing of Gahal (Herut-Liberal alignment). One member of the latter, Dr. Yohanan Bader, cast a negative vote as did four members of Gahal’s Liberal wing–Yosef Saphir, Zvi Zimmerman, Moshe Nissim and Gideon Patt. Other factions opposed were the Communists, Haolam Hazeh, the State List headed by former Premier David Ben Gurion, and Mapam. The latter is a member of the Labor Alignment but votes independently on many issues. Abstentions were registered by the balance of Gahal and by the ultra-Orthodox Agudat Israel and Poalei Agudat Israel. The two Orthodox factions explained that they supported the measure in principle but opposed the provision for equal rights for the non-Jewish families of immigrants.

The vote was taken after ten hours of debate which began Monday. Labor Party MKs were under pressure of Party discipline to vote in accordance with the decision of the Party leadership. Mrs. Meir made it clear that she would tolerate no dissent in this matter. The 72-year-old Premier delivered a highly emotional speech in the Knesset in which she denied political motivation and claimed that the measure was a means of protecting Jewry from assimilation. Opponents of the amendment have charged that it was designed to appease the Israeli rabbinate and the Orthodox political parties. The National Religious Party, a member of the coalition, threatened to walk out of the Government unless it acted to nullify a recent Supreme Court decision which allowed Israelis to be registered as Jews by nationality even if they are not Jews by religion. More than 2000 Israeli students and adults demonstrated against the amendment when debate on it opened Monday.