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.
Judah,
ReplyDeleteI think this is ludicrous!! They can’t revoke someone’s citizenship solely on the basis of their religion! If that is the case they would have to revoke all the ISLAM believers too.
Shalom,
Batzion
Judah,
ReplyDeleteFrom what I understand of this and the nature of this, it is not about a belief in a Messiah or that Yeshua is Messiah. It has to do with the fact what is associated with Yeshua, those that claim Yeshua is YHVH.
I am sure you are aware of those in Israel right now who believe that Menachem Mendel Schneerson (April 18, 1902 – June 12, 1994) is the long awaited Messiah. They are not getting kicked out of Israel.
It's the deity issue.
Shalom
Levi
Batzion and Levi,
ReplyDeleteThanks to both of you guys for posting.
The reason Messianics are being singled out here is that they migrated to Israel under the right of return law. This law states that you can migrate and naturalize in Israel if you are a Jew. Recent court rulings have decided that if you're a Messianic, you're not Jewish.
This is how they are being attacked: you are not Jewish if you are a Messianic, thus, your immigration to Israel under the right of return law is false, for right of return requires that you be a Jew.
In other words, the definition of Jew has been changed from "descendant of Jacob or Judah" to "follower of rabbinic Judaism".
What I find appalling is saying you're not Jewish if you believe that Yeshua is the Messiah. As Levi pointed out, there are Orthodox in Israel that believe the late Rav Schneerson was the messiah, yet they are not kicked out. That is hypocritical.
As a side note to comment on the messiahship of Schneerson, many of Schneerson's followers expected him to rise on the 3rd day, which didn't happen! One other guy named Yeshua, on the other hand... :-)
Hi again folks,
ReplyDeleteI just read an interesting article from Orthodox Jew-turned-follower-of-Messiah Judith Rood. Here's some interesting quotes pertaining to exactly what we're talking about.
"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."
I'm going to update the post and include this interesting quote from Mrs. Rood.
I think a lot of it has also to do with past Christianity. In the beginning it was considered just another sect of Judaism but you know the rest of the story.
ReplyDeleteBe Well
Levi
Yes, it is understandable that Jews hate Christianity, for all Christianity, especially Roman Catholicism, has done against Jews in the name of Jesus.
ReplyDeleteYet similar persecution of early believers in Messiah by Jews is also an historical fact.
We've truly come full circle now, seeing that Jews are once again persecuting Jews that believe in Messiah.
When Messiah comes, I hope he sorts all this out and resolves the bitterness on both sides.