Report on citizenship law: Israel

Soon after its establishment in 1948, Israel adopted a citizenship regime that is premised on
co-ethnic immigration. The cornerstone of this policy is the 1950 Law of Return, which
stipulates that every Jew has the right to come to Israel and take up citizenship. The Law of
Return is a symbolic expression of the most central tenet in Zionist ideology, the ‘return’ of
all Jews to their ancient homeland in Palestine. At the same time, this law has been central in
securing a Jewish majority in Israel. In contrast, Israel’s 1952 Citizenship Law, which is
mostly used to regulate access to membership by non-Jewish minorities and immigrants,
plays a relatively minor role in shaping the country’s identity and demography.
Whereas many European countries have made substantial changes to their citizenship
policy in recent decades, Israel’s citizenship regime has remained remarkably unchanged
since the country’s establishment. Over the years, several developments have arisen which
challenge this order, including the annexation of territories with large Arab populations and
the arrival of hundreds of thousands of non-Jewish immigrants. To date, however, these
challenges have been resolved mostly through ad hoc responses that did not entail any major
revisions of the fundamental structure. Alongside the principle of ethnic return, which
remains the major framework that governs citizenship for the Jewish majority, a patchwork
citizenship regime has grown. This patchwork system allocates specific statuses to different
population categories, including East Jerusalem Palestinians, Asian labour migrants, African
asylum seekers and others. As of now, then, Israel’s citizenship regime remains resistant to
deep reforms and shows only limited signs of de-ethnicisation