Israel and Patrilineal Jews

Patrilineal Jews face particular discrimination in Israel, the Jewish state.  Despite promises at its founding to respect the religious freedom of all of its inhabitants, Israel at present gives preferential treatment to an establishment, ultra-Orthodox rabbinate.  The official rabbinate in Israel is inhospitable to patrilineal Jews, who often lack access to basic social services. 

1) Without an Orthodox conversion, patrilineal Jews cannot be legally married in Israel, whether to other patrilineal Jews, to halakhic Jews, or to non-Jews, because Israel has no system of civil marriage.  All people not covered by the jurisdiction of the rabbinate or the various Muslim and Christian religious tribunals that oversee marriage must fly to Cyprus in order to have a marriage performed, which will then be recognized in Israel under international law.

This state of affairs was clearly never intended by Israel's founders, who never anticipated there being significant numbers of people in Israel who would not fall under the jurisdiction of any of the various religious bodies.  At present, however, some 300,000 Israelis, mostly immigrants from Russia and other former Soviet republics, are denied the right to marry because they lack any other religious affiliation but are not considered Jews by the official rabbinate.

2) Patrilineal Jews cannot have the word "Yehudi" (Jew) stamped on the identity cards all Israelis are required to carry.  While this might seem a minor issue, it can result in patrilineals being denied services available to all other non-Arab Israelis.

3) Patrilineal Jews cannot be buried in Jewish cemeteries--even if they die in combat, serving the Jewish state!  A disproportionate number of patrilineal Jews serve in the Israeli Defense Forces; they are often motivated to enlist in order to prove their worthiness in a society that discriminates against them.  In addition, patrilineal Jews often volunteer for the most difficult and dangerous combat missions, and sacrifice their lives while ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students get draft exemptions.

4) Patrilineal Jews also face uncertainty about the future of their situation in Israel.  Israel's ultra-Orthodox population is growing in both raw numbers and political clout.  Although the majority of Israelis are hiloni (secular), Israel's mainstream political parties, Labor and Likud, often rely on ultra-Orthodox parties to put together coalitions in Israel's legislative body, the Knesset.

We at Emunah Avot find the situation in Israel regarding patrilineal Jews particularly deplorable.  Patrilineal Jews in America and other diaspora countries may suffer emotional damage and disjointed family relationships as a result of their status, but they do not face legal discrimination.

Moreover, we find it intolerable that the Jewish community allows a situation to exist under which people who have often suffered persecution as Jews in their home countries come to Israel and find they are not considered "Jewish enough" to have access to basic rights, rites, and services.  We call on the entire Jewish community, of all denominations, in Israel and in the diaspora, to demand a fairer deal for patrilineal Jews and others Jews in Israel who do not meet the exacting standards of the official rabbinate.