Messianic Jews Get Their Day in Court

THE BATTLE ISN'T OVER, IT HAS JUST BEGUN

From: Judith Rood National Chairperson

Yes the Lydia project is not political, but we do support religious freedom for everyone in Israel. While our goal is to help those who are victims of terror, poverty, loss of husband or homeless we understand that much of these problems stem from prejudice and persecution.

Many have asked about the lasted ruling by the High Court in Israel, here is our release from the Lydia representative on the ground in Israel.

Israeli High Court of Justice Rules in Favor of Messianic Jews - April 2008

While a few press releases have emerged this week on Israeli news site, other national news sources have remained conspicuously silent in reporting the most recent court decision regarding the citizenship rights of Messianic Jews.

Fifteen years ago, the same court rejected a petition by Messianic Jews who were demanding to be recognized as Jews and receive full Israeli citizenship according to the Law of Return for children and grandchildren of Jews. In that case, the court ruled that Messianic Jews had converted to Christianity and therefore were no longer Jewish. Since that court case, the state has refused all requests for citizenship according to the Law of Return by known Messianic Jews.

Following a petition that began two years ago, this week the Israeli High Court of Justice ruled that Messianic Jews are entitled to Israeli citizenship according to the Law of Return if their father is Jewish.

The twelve petitioners, represented by attorneys Yehuda Raveh and Calev Myers, argued that they were eligible for immigrant status and citizenship due to the fact that they were children of fathers who were Jewish, not because they themselves were Jewish according to the definition of "Who is a Jew" in the Law of Return.

In 1970, Amendment 4A (a) to the Law of Return was passed stating: "The rights of a Jew under this law. . .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."

The current laws define a Jew as "a person who was born of a Jewish mother or has become converted to Judaism and who is not a member of another religion." This ruling is in accordance to Halacha - Orthodox Jewish law as opposed to the Biblical understanding that Jewishness is passed from father to son.

According to Attorney Calev Myers, the twelve Messianic Jews petitioned the High Court after the Interior Ministry refused to register them as new Immigrants in accordance with the Law of Return. Myers said that they had received letters stating that they would not receive citizenship because they allegedly engaged in missionary activity. This accusation is extremely derogatory and common to use against Messianic Jews when desiring to cause harm to their character.

It still remains unclear how the courts will handle cases petitioned by Messianic Jews whose mother's are considered "Jews" according to the law. However, Calev Myers, who is also the founder and chief counsel of the Jerusalem Institute of Justice has stated, "This is yet another battle won in our war to establish equality in Israel for the Messianic Jewish community just like every other stream of faith within the Jewish world."

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