The Law of Return- 1950

These words from the Book of Psalms (Psalms: 137) were fervently uttered by Jews after the exile to Babylon, and ever since the destruction of the Second Temple in the year 70 CE. During almost 20 centuries of exile that followed, Jews prayed three times a day for return to their ancestral homeland. This longing to return to the Land of Israel also became a major topic in Jewish literature and thought.

It was only in the 19th century that the return to Israel found a political expression in the Zionist movement. In 1897, the First Zionist Congress was convened by Theodor Herzl in Basle, and proclaimed the right of the Jewish people to national rebirth in its own country.

The political struggle of the Jewish people for recognized nationhood was accompanied by pressure on the authorities in Palestine to allow massive immigration and unobstructed settlement of the country. Indeed, the history of Jewish national revival in the 20th century can be described as an endless struggle for aliya - the return of the Jewish people to its Land.

The right of the Jewish people to nationhood was recognized in the Balfour Declaration of November 2, 1917, which stated:

The Balfour Declaration was incorporated into the preamble of the Mandate to administer Palestine, which the League of Nations conferred on Great Britain in 1922.

Article 2 of the Mandate reads as follows:

The Mandatory shall be responsible for placing the country under such political, administrative and economic conditions as will secure the establishment of the Jewish national home, as laid down in the preamble....

Article 6 of the Mandate states:

The Mandatory administration did not stand up to its obligations regarding the establishment of the Jewish National Home and facilitating Jewish immigration to Palestine. On the contrary, severe restraints were placed on Jews who wished to immigrate, and they had to resort to illegal practices to enter the country. The administration's negative attitude towards Jewish immigration came to a climax on May 17, 1939, when the British Government issued a White Paper limiting Jewish immigration to 15,000 annually for a further five years; thereafter, unless the Arabs agreed, it was to cease altogether

This White Paper was issued at the time when Jews in Europe were desperately trying to flee from Nazi persecution and save their lives. Palestine - the only place in the world that was willing to receive them - closed its gates and contributed to their fate in the Holocaust.

On November 29, 1947, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted Resolution 181 regarding the establishment of a Jewish State and an Arab State in the territory of the British Mandate for Palestine (Eretz Israel).

In the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel of May 14, 1948, it was stated inter alia:

Indeed, as soon as the British soldiers withdrew from the country, there was an inflow of Jews from refugee camps in Europe and in Cyprus (where Jewish "illegal" immigrants were deported after their boats had been intercepted by the British navy). The White Paper of 1939 was abolished ab initio.

On July 5, 1950, the Knesset unanimously adopted the Law of Return, 1950. Section 1 of the Law reads as follows:

This was no innovation. The State of Israel was established for the very purpose of repatriating the Jewish people from the Diaspora, to enable the "Ingathering of the Exiles", to give every Jew anywhere in the world the option to return to the land of his fathers. The State of Israel was established with the aim of implementing the Zionist solution of the "Jewish problem" - a Jewish State - by virtue of the natural right of the Jewish people to be masters of their own fate, like all other nations, in their own sovereign state (from the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel).

As such, the Law of Return is not a privilege set apart for members of the Jewish faith and denied to non-Jews; the bestowal of the "right of return" to Israel to non-Jews or to persons without a Jewish relative is illogical and contradicts the principal purpose of setting up a Jewish State as prescribed by the UN Resolution of November 1947, the Balfour Declaration of 1917 and the League of Nations Mandate of 1922. The Law of Return is the quintessence of what the State of Israel stands for.

A description of the Law of Return would not be complete without mentioning the 1970 amendment, which accords the right to immigrate to Israel to non-Jews who are either children or grandchildren of a Jew, the spouse of a Jew or the spouse of a child or grandchild of a Jew (on condition that this person was not previously a Jew who had knowingly converted to another faith). The amendment was intended to accept in Israel families, mainly from Eastern Europe, where mixed marriages were abundant.

The main criticism raised against the Law of Return is that is discriminates against Arabs and especially against Palestinian refugees who wish to return to their former homes in Israel. This argument has no basis; obviously there is no sense in inviting any Arab who so desires to immigrate at will into Israel, the Jewish State which was established for the Jewish People in accordance with the 1947 UN Resolution 181, and by virtue of the right of the Jewish People to self determination. Any gentile, be he Arab or from any other origin, who wishes to settle in Israel, may do so if he meets the requirements set forth in the Law of Entry to Israel (1952) and the Law of Citizenship (1952), regarding naturalization. These requirements are similar to those stated in the laws of most countries. It is clear therefore, that this argument has no logic at all.

With regard to the Palestinian refugees - their plight must definitely be solved, but the solution to their problem has nothing to do with the Law of Return, which, as described above, is intended for the repatriation of the Jewish People to the Jewish State.