Israel to expand definition of ‘Jewish’ among population

An advisory committee recommended two weeks ago that Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics amend its “Jewish” definition when referring to Israelis who are classified as neither “Jews” nor “Arabs.”

Nearly half a million Israelis fall under the population category of “others" who qualify for citizenship under Israel’s Law of Return but are not defined as “Jewish” by religious law.

This usually amounts to those who were not born to a Jewish mother but have at least one Jewish grandparent, Haaretz reported.

The majority of such a population are Russian-speaking immigrants who came to Israel in the 1990s as well as their offspring in recent years.

Israel’s statistic bureau was presented with a proposal to create the new category “enlarged Jewish population” to include all Israelis who qualify for citizenship, whether or not they are “religiously Jewish.”

Those who are classified as not “religiously Jewish” cannot legally marry in Israel nor be buried in Jewish cemeteries in the country.

The recommendation was submitted by a committee headed by demographer Eliahu Ben Moshe, who is also a statistician at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Ben Moshe said that the agency was well aware that the designation of “others” was “demeaning and problematic,” Haaretz reported.

A spokesman for the bureau said the issue was under examination, and that members of the committee predicted the suggestion would be adopted.

Israel’s leading demographer Sergio DellaPergola said the potential change would be “more cosmetic than anything else.”

“If you ask these nearly half a million citizens if they are Jewish, a good half would say ‘yes,’ while the others would probably say, ‘I’d like to be, but I’m not allowed in.’”