Now comes news that Israel's Minister of Interior is revoking the citizenship of Jews who believe in Messiah, essentially forcing them to leave the country.
Israeli law gives the Minister of Interior absolute authority in this matter, granting him the ability to revoke anyone's citizenship without any kind of judicial appeal.
Below is a letter from Jerusalem Institute of Justice's senior legal activist Michael Decker.
Dear Friends and Supporters,
Lately a very disturbing situation has been occurring whereby the Minister of Interior has attempted to revoke the citizenship of Jewish believers who have immigrated into Israel in accordance with the Law of Return. The main claim is that these people have immigrated into Israel on the basis of falsified information.
According to the current legal situation in Israel, the authority to begin the procedure of revoking a person's citizenship is given to the Minister of Interior. The Minister of Interior then gathers the evidence whereupon he decides to revoke a person's citizenship and also makes the decision based on the evidence that he himself gathers. Furthermore, the final process of executing the final decision is also given exclusively to the Minister of Interior. By right (de jure), the law itself does not provide any appeal procedure.
This situation is very disturbing and it has a direct effect on the local Messianic community in Israel since many well known Israeli Messianic leaders have received such notices from the Ministry of Interior.
The Jerusalem Institute of Justice wishes to change this disturbing legal situation and we believe that such a change is possible. We intend to utilize various examples of mistakes made by the Ministry of Interior wherein an attempt was made to revoke a person's citizenship based on falsified information which the person had presented, when in reality this person did not present falsified information at all and has basically been a victim to this unrestrained authority granted to the Minister of Interior.
In order to publish this information, we would need to hire a lobbying company who would post articles and news broadcasts including true stories of mistakes made by the Minister of Interior, while at the same time we would submit an amendment to the two existing sections in the Law of Citizenship and in the Law of entry into Israel which grants the Minister of Interior this authority.
We will propose that this right be stripped from the Minister of Interior and given to the judicial authorities. If a registration clerk desires to revoke a person's citizenship, it should not be done in a closed, hidden or secretive manner. We believe that a proper process would be for the Ministry of Interior to submit a letter of indictment before a court of justice, which would thereby give a citizen the chance to defend himself. Subsequently, a neutral judge would decide according to the evidence, presented before him by both parties.
If this amendment passes, then the Ministry of Interior will be obligated to write a statement of claim accusing a person merely because of his religious beliefs. It goes without saying that such a prerequisite would prevent the Ministry of Interior from beginning a procedure to revoke the citizenship of a person merely because of his religious worldview.
Sincerely Yours,
Michael Decker
Senior Legal Activist
*update* Orthodox Jew turned devout Jewish follower of Messiah Judith Rood touches on these points in her recent February article. Especially relevant are these bits:
It grieves me now to have to share with you yet another part of the equation so prevalent in the lives of the Messianic Jewish believers here in Israel. In the Land we have read and learned so much about in His Word over the years, not only do Jewish Messianic new immigrants face physical hardship; they also face prejudice and persecution. One would not expect to hear this, but anti-Semitism it is as alive in Israel as it is in every other part of the world. Yes, many of the very people who have been persecuted so savagely in the past for nothing more than being Jewish are themselves now persecuting fellow Jews for their faith in Yahshua as Messiah.
As I said earlier, I grew up in an Orthodox Jewish world, which included both my family and my community. Orthodox Jews believe very strongly that for a Jew to believe that Yahshua is the Messiah is the worst thing that could ever happen; to many it is tantamount to death. In the eyes of the devoutly observant Orthodox, the only thing that these people are worthy of is to be cut off from the Jewish people and shunned. Many of the Orthodox will sit shivah (the traditional seven-day period of mourning for the dead that is observed in Jewish homes) for a family member who has accepted Yahshua as Messiah. There are many in the Land who persecute both Jews and Gentiles who have come to know Yahshua as their Messiah.
Yes – one can be a Jewish atheist, a Jewish agnostic, a Jewish reprobate, a practicing Jewish Buddhist, or literally anything – except a Jewish believer in Yahshua – and he will be welcomed to make aliyah to Israel with open arms. However, if one is a believer in or becomes a believer in Yahshua as Messiah, he can look forward to persecution, prejudice, and even expulsion from the Land. The very benefits that are afforded to those who hate Yahweh or do not even believe in Him are not available to those who claim Yahshua as their Messiah.