History of Israeli nationality

The Palestinian territory, which would one day become the State of Israel, was hewed out of the Ottoman Empire by Zionism and the British Mandate. The British establishment of colonial political boundaries allowed the Jews to develop autonomous institutions such as the Histadrut and the Knesset [Migdal, p. 135] . It was during the 1930s that the Zionist movement really began to encourage immigration to Palestine. The resulting influx of Jewish immigrants was crucial for the functioning of these new institutions in what would, on May 14, 1948, become the State of Israel [Migdal, p. 136] .

etting the foundation for a Jewish state

The Dreyfus Affair

A lieutenant in the French Army, Alfred Dreyfus was brought to trial in 1894 based on accusations of treason. He was convicted and sentenced to imprisonment without due process as part of a hasty cover-up, as it became clear he was wrongfully accused but the Army feared public accusations of Jewish favoritism from the anti-Semitic right-wing. The "New Free Press," a newspaper in Vienna, sent Theodor Herzl to Paris to cover the trial. Herzel was surprised at the open use of anti-Semitism to condemn Dreyfus. As an assimilated Jew, Herzel was completely detached from traditional Judaism and felt unfairly connected. He was shocked because France was "the" country of revolution. Faced with the fact that anti-Semitism could surface in the most tolerant and contemporary places, Herzel decided that Jews would only be equal in their own state. He wrote "The Jewish State," promoting a purely political movement which eventually catapulted into the Zionist movement. Herzel’s words, based on his reaction to the Dreyfus Affair, gave birth to the movement responsible for the establishment of Israel.

The Balfour Declaration

Lord Rothschild, a member of England’s Parliament and a prominent representative of British Jewry, received for transmittal to the Zionist Federation, an official letter from Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour in 1917 outlining England’s acceptance of Jewish Zionist aspirations. The letter, known as the Balfour Declaration, states in part: "His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country." [The Law of Return - 1950] Jewish immigration to Palestine, was crucial at this time as Palestine needed enough Jews to legitimize making a Jewish home in their Biblical homeland (in 1914 there were only 94,000 Jews). The Balfour Declaration was the farthest England went in terms of an official pro-Zionist policy, acknowledging the right of the Jewish people to a national home. The Jews believed they were closer to fulfilling the Zionist dream after WWI, but following the war, England was no longer as strong a player. In theory England was pro-Zionist but both the Soviet Union and America where opposed to the continuation of colonies and Empires. Woodrow Wilson pressured Europe to give up their colonies, but England wasn’t ready to lose power in the Middle East and believed parts of their new empire weren’t "ready for independence." The area of Palestine became the British Mandate of Palestine and was accepted by the League of Nations, including the thrust of the Balfour Declaration.

Jewish and Israeli immigration

Though there was obviously a strong native Jewish population in Turkish Palestine, the first wave of Jewish immigration, or aliyah, to Palestine occurred between 1882 and 1903. These Jews were for the most part fleeing the pogroms and anti-Semitism of czarist Russia and the Ukraine [Rosen-Zvi, p. 10] . Some hardened idealists were motivated by a desire to return to their homeland and rebuild their country. These would form the basis of the Kibbutz movement, and would lay a foundation for the Second Aliyah.

The Second Aliyah brought Jews from Russia who were imbued with Marxist ideology as well as those who wanted a better life. In 1909 Kibbutz Deganya was founded. An invention of the Russian projects, the Kibbutz was meant to actualize Marxism while cultivating the land. At the other end of the spectrum, Tel Aviv was founded the same year. A center of capitalization, Tel Aviv represented the progress of the land’s industry.

5.1 million Jews are currently residing in Israel. This is mostly, if not entirely, the result of immigration and the Zionist goal of uniting the Diaspora in a single territory. Three million Jews, mainly from Islamic countries and Eastern Europe, have immigrated to Israel since it claimed independence [Dieckhoff, p. 89] .

The first massive wave of Jewish immigration in the new State occurred between 1948 and 1951. During this time, 688,000 "olim" made "aliyah" to Israel. These immigrants were mostly composed of refugees from Nazi concentration camps, Jews from Arab countries, and Jews who had been refused entry to Israel under the British Mandate.

Between 1952 and 1989 1.2 million immigrants acquired Israeli citizenship by right of return. 750,000 of them were from Arab countries including; Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, and Libya. In 1989, a large number of Jews were finally permitted to leave the former Soviet Union. They were encouraged to settle in Israel [Shachar, p. 397] .

Acquiring Israeli citizenship

Law of Return

According to Section 1 of the Law of Return, enacted in 1950 "every Jew has the right to come to this country as an "oleh" [immigrant] ." Under this law, all Jews are seen as potential citizens of the state and are granted citizenship immediately if they should immigrate [Shachar, p. 387] . Citizenship is granted on the day of arrival in the country or when the individual receives a certificate stating that he is indeed an "oleh". An oleh has three months to decide whether s/he wishes to become a citizen and can renounce his or her citizenship during this time. The right to an oleh certificate may be denied if the person is engaged in activity directed against the Jewish people, endangers public health or security of the state, or who has a criminal past that may endanger public welfare [Acquisition of Israeli Citizenship]

The right of return is based on the principles of "Jus Sanguinis" which becomes apparent in the 1970 amendment of section 4B of the Law of Return which grants citizenship to "a child and a grandchild of a Jew, the spouse of a Jew" [Shachar, p. 400] . Under this amendment, children born outside the State but to Israeli parents are automatically granted citizenship. This same amendment also defines who shall be considered a Jew. For the purpose of this law, the term "Jew" means a person who was born of a Jewish mother or has become converted to Judaism and who is not a member of another religion." [The Law Of Return 5710-1950]

However, with the imposition of citizenship comes the imposition of certain obligations attached to it, such as military service. An Israeli citizen, even those living outside of the state will be recruited for obligatory military service at age 18 [Shachar, p. 408] .

The Law of Return is fairly exclusive in that it only applies to Jews. Those who do not have a pre-existing affiliation with the Jewish faith have to undergo a rigid naturalization process.There exist three possible methods for non-Jews to obtain Israeli citizenship which include; residence, birth, and naturalization [Shachar, p. 402] .

Citizenship by residence

According to the 1952 Israeli Citizenship Law, any Palestinian who discontinued residency in Israel after the establishment of the state, also known as the ‘1948 refugees’, lost his entitlement to automatic Israeli citizenship by right of residence [Shachar, p. 404] .Section 3 of the 1952 Citizenship law states that 3 conditions must be met in order to acquire citizenship by way of residence. First, one must currently be residing in Israel. Second, one must have been present in Israel after the establishment of the state in 1948. And lastly, one must be registered in the 1951 population registry. These conditions are meant to grant citizenship to those who stayed in Israel during the 1948 war and to deny status to those who had fled [Shachar, p. 405] . Those who did not meet the necessary conditions were left stateless since Palestinian citizenship was abolished with the end of the British Mandate [Shachar, p. 406] .

Citizenship by birth

Anyone who is born in Israel to an Israeli parent, is automatically granted citizenship at birth. Note that the parents do not have to be married, and both parents do not require citizenship for this law to take effect. This law also applies to children born outside of Israel to an Israeli parent. They are granted automatic citizenship as well. This imposes the duties of citizenship onto individuals born outside the country. These individuals are conscripted into the army at age 18, just like any other citizen. Citizenship Law was amended in 1980, stating that citizenship, which is dependent on a jus sanguinis principle, is limited to only one generation [Shachar, p. 409] .

Citizenship by naturalization

Whether or not an individual is granted citizenship by means of naturalization is entirely dependent on the Minister of the Interior. Six pre-requisites, listed under Section 5 of the Citizenship Law, must be met in order to acquire citizenship. According to the six pre-requisites, "the applicant must:

#Be in Israel
#Have been in Israel for three out of the five years preceding the day of submission of the application.
#Have been entitled to permanent residency
#Have settled or have expressed interest to settle in Israel
#Have basic knowledge of Hebrew language
#Have renounced his or her prior citizenship or has proved willingness to terminate it upon becoming an Israeli citizen"

If the Minister of the Interior approves the application for naturalization, the naturalized person is entitled to citizenship after taking the following oath: "I declare that I will be a loyal citizen of the State of Israel."¹⁵

This is the process that non-Jews must go through in order to become a citizen. Olim do not have to renounce citizenship that they may possess in other countries since they are entitled to the right of return [Shachar, p. 410] .

Rights and obligations of citizenship

Most civil, economic, and social entitlements apply equally to citizens and residents. However, citizens differ from residents in two important domains. Firstly, in terms of obligations, all citizens, male and female, are required to serve in the military for a given amount of time. Secondly, in terms of rights, only citizens are entitled to full political participation, which is required in order to vote for members of the Knesset and the Prime Minister. It is also a necessary precondition for employment in the civil service. The right to enter, remain in, and leave the country freely is also bestowed on citizens with the presentation of a valid passport at an official frontier station [Shachar, p. 414] .

Military

The army plays a central role in creating a united and nationalized people. Conscription is universal for all men and women from the age of 18. Men are obligated to serve in the army for 3 years and women for 2 years. Once they have served the allotted time, they are given the option of renewing their contract [Al-Qazzaz, p. 145] . Israel is considered a nation under arms with the defense of the State as a common uniting goal of all those who serve⁷. The army also plays an active role in the absorption and assimilation of immigrants through intense social mixing. It can be said that Israeliness is linked with enrolment in the army and not with citizenship per se. Those who are exempt from military service (Israeli Arabs and ultra-Orthodox Jews) are seen as existing outside of the united national community [Dieckhoff, P. 91] .

Women in the military

The 1949 Defense Service Law imposes a duty on every Israeli citizen to serve in the military. The role of women as important contributors to statehood building, and as full and equal citizens, is reflected by this law [Shachar, p. 416] . However, this law also acknowledges women as potential mothers. Under section 39 of the 1986 Defense Service Law (consolidated version) women who are currently pregnant or who are already mothers are exempt from obligatory military service. Women who are married and thus potential mothers, by the age of recruitment, can enter the military on a voluntary basis. While this law is meant to prove the equality of all Jewish Israeli citizens, it relegates women to a second class position, where their primary contribution to the nation is as mothers. Conversely, male citizens who are husbands or fathers do not enjoy such exemptions [Shachar, p. 419] .

On occasion, males may be able to defer their mandatory recruitment into the army to pursue their academic studies. This deferment in granted in order to have a certain number of trained professionals needed by the army [Al-Qazzaz, p. 147] .

Women provide an array of non-combatant services in the military such as teachers and truck drivers [Al-Qazzaz, p. 148] . This also serves the function of freeing men from non-combatant positions, maintaining a strong defense.

The Sherut Qivah and the Zahal

Israel relays mainly on the standing army. Males serve for about 3 years, though this has been shortening steadily, the standing army also includes "Sherut Qivah" which are those who choose to serve for longer, making the military their career. is Israel's main army consisting of conscripts, volunteers, non commissioned officers, and professional officers.

The IDF maintains enough equipment and keeps a large number of army reserves, consists of those individuals who have finished their obligatory service Reservists are kept well trained and can be mobilized within 48 hours. This is an economically efficient way of having a strong defense force without the necessity of a large standing army. The age in which Israelis have been aging out of the reserves has been dropping steadily over the past 30 years.

Agricultural training

During the first year of army service, new recruits undergo basic training, followed by mandatory agricultural training. Only those who are tested for service in the Navy or the Air Force can be exempt from agricultural training with permission from the Minister of Defense [Defence Service Law-Consolidated Version] . After the agricultural training, the individual undergoes advanced military training and, when their obligatory service period is complete, they are free to join an agricultural settlement or to start their own. Between 1950 and 1967, 40 "kibbutzim", or agricultural settlements, were founded in this fashion [Al-Qazzaz, p. 161] .

The integration of the army and society

Israel has an extremely heterogeneous population, with approximately half of its inhabitants being immigrants. The military(IDF or ZAHAL) operates as an integrating and socializing mechanism, uniting these various immigrant populations [Al-Qazzaz, p. 158] . The army accomplishes this by offering Hebrew classes to the immigrant population as well as certain technical and vocational courses [Al-Qazzaz, p. 159] .

The army also runs research laboratories where top scientists develop electronic technologies for both civilian and military use [Al-Qazzaz, p. 161] .

Loss of citizenship and dual citizenship

Once Israeli citizenship is acquired, it becomes very hard to renounce. Citizenship is seen as a personal allegiance between the individual and the State in which rights and obligations for life are a central component. To acquire citizenship, the individual must be willing to risk his or her life for the country, via military service. Citizenship may only be renounced once the Minister of the Interior has expressed his consent on the individual’s request. Under section 10 of the Citizenship Law, an Israeli citizen of full age may decide to renounce their citizenship. This renunciation will only take effect once the Minister of the Interior has expressed consent over the claim.

Jewish immigrants automatically acquire Israeli citizenship upon settling in Israel by right of return. They are not legally required to renounce other citizenship affiliations that they may have and thus, many of them hold dual citizenship. There is one rare circumstance under which Israeli citizenship may be revoked. Under the 1980 amendment of Citizenship Law, an individual may be expatriated if they acquire citizenship or establish residency in a country that is in a formal state of war with Israel [Shachar, p. 421] . However, under normal circumstances, Israeli citizenship is presumed to take priority over other national affiliations as is reflected by section 14(b) of the Citizenship Law. It becomes exceedingly difficult for individuals who have taken up residence in another country to renounce their Israeli citizenship and the accompanying rights and obligations, such as military service [Shachar, p. 422] .

Jewish nationality and identity

Since the Israeli State was founded as a Jewish State in the land of Israel, it becomes difficult to separate Jewish from Israeli nationality. In fact, the Knesset, or parliamentary assembly of Israel, enacts laws with religious underpinnings. Such laws include; ‘observance of the Sabbath, provision of kosher food to the army, abortion, and forbid, among other things, flights by the national airline El Al on Sabbath and festival days, the sale of bread during the Passover, raising pigs and selling pork, and "indecent" advertisements’. Thus, even though Judaism is not the official religion of the state, religious rules have integrated themselves into the public sphere [Dieckhoff, p. 85] .

The 1950 enactment of the Law of Return gives every Jew, residing in any country, the right to immigrate to Israel [Dieckhoff, p. 86] , and automatically claim citizenship. The primary aim of the Law of Return was to unite a dispersed and persecuted Jewish people after the holocaust. This relates back to earlier Zionist goals of ‘ingathering the exiles’, or uniting the Jewish Diaspora. This raises a problem, namely, what is Jewishness? And who is considered to be Jewish [Dieckhoff, p. 87] ?

In Judaism, religion is passed on through the mother. However, until 1970, children of Jewish fathers could be registered as Jews based on ethno-national origin, known as leom. In 1970, conversion was acceptable grounds for claiming recognition of Jewishness. However, this raised similar issues to the marriage debate. Could someone be registered as Jewish, according to the Ministry of the Interior, if they were converted by the less strict sects of Conservatives or Reforms in the Diaspora? The Supreme Court, to the dismay of the Orthodox monopoly, ruled that such persons could be registered as Jews [ibid] .

Having Jewish identity entitles those holders to significant rights. Every Jew who settles in Israel ‘is allowed generous tax relief during the first years, loans at reduced interest, and various other kinds of help to facilitate integration’ [ibid] .

While being Jewish may serve to provide a common feeling among a dispersed people, it is not enough to awaken a real national consciousness. Two institutions, set up by the State, are responsible for raising this national awareness namely, the school and the army [Dieckhoff, p. 90] .

Education

Education plays a crucial role in the emergence of a common Jewish culture for several reasons. Education in Israel is divided into sectors. for Jews instruction takes place in Hebrew, which unites the Jewish people with a common tongue, serving to create strong national cohesion. Educational institutions also serve a civic function. According to the 1953 law on national education, teachings are meant to serve the patriotic ideal. The connection of the Jewish people to the land of Israel is emphasized through the teaching of history, Bible study, and literature [ibid] .The Arab minority has its own Education system which uses Arabic as the basic language and has Fridays or Sundays off, as well as Muslim or Christian holidays rather than the Saturday and Jewish holidays.

Marriage

Israeli marriage is controlled by an Orthodox rabbinical monopoly which makes it impossible for a Jew and a non-Jew to marry. If such a couple does wish to marry, they must travel to foreign soil or to a foreign consulate in Israel. Such marriages must be recognized by the State of Israel in concordance with international private law.

An important consequence of this Orthodox monopoly over marriage is that Reform and Conservative sects of Judaism cannot legally perform marriages within the territory. The marriage would not be recognized by the Ministry of the interior or by the Rabbinate. In order to perform marriages, Reform and Conservative Rabbis must travel outside the territory thus leading to an abundance of ‘love-boat’ weddings, which occur outside of Israeli waters²⁷.

Initially, under the Law of Return, section 4A, alien spouses who married a Jew were automatically entitled to Israeli citizenship. The Minister of the Interior now requires that alien spouses, whether marrying a Jewish or a non-Jewish Israeli, "leave the country for 6 weeks to confirm the ‘sincerity’ of the marriage." After the 6 week period, they are permitted to return to the country on a temporary visa and apply for permanent resident status [Shachar, p. 411] . This law was put in place to prevent people from claiming citizenship via fictitious marriages. It is a clear departure from the initial terms in the Law of Return [Shachar, p. 412] . However, if an Israeli woman marries an alien; her Israeli nationality and citizenship are not lost, even if her husband’s nationality law enforces his nationality upon her [Shachar, p. 413] .

Minorities

Helped by the pro-Zionism of the 1920’s, the Jewish population in Palestine slowly continued to grow. The Arabs realized the Jews and British were trying to displace them from their homeland but without a concept of nationalism, they had no authority, no leader that could bring them together without the desire for a national homeland. The Arabs were loyal to their Wattan, locality, and Quo’um, the Islamic/Arab area in general. The modern concept of nationalism was restrained by the traditionalism of fundamentalism. The Arabs felt threatened and decided if the British and Jews were in league together, they needed to resort to violence to fight back. In August 1929, Jews held a religious demonstration at the Kotel in honor of Tish B’Av. Recognizing religious expression, the Arabs staged brutal attacks in Hevron, Tsfat, and Jerusalem. Especially brutal in Hevron where almost 100 yeshiva students were killed at the Yeshiva of Hevron. These were religious Jews, not Zionists, and refused to defend themselves. The British did nothing to stop the bloodshed, blaming the Jews in the Passfield White Paper for "economically suppressing the Arabs."

‘Minorities’ is a term used to denote non-Jewish citizens of the State of Israel based on distinct religion, sect, or form of settlement and includes, but is not limited to; Muslims, Christians, Druze, Circassians, and Bedouins. In 1948, with the creation of the State, came the establishment of a Ministry of Minorities, which operated within the Ministry of the Interior [Rekhess, p. 4] .

When Israel claimed independence in 1948, 160,000 Arabs who remained in the territory (750,000 left in a mass exodus) became Israeli residents and a new minority where they had once been the majority. They were deemed traitors by those who had left and were placed in an awkward situation in the new State which claimed to be Jewish, but advocated equality for all its citizens. The Declaration of Independence explicitly promised "the most complete social and political equality to all inhabitants without distinction of religion, race or sex." By 1949, Arabs could vote and stand for election however; their civil liberties were severely restricted. For example, the Arab minority had very little freedom of movement within the territory. This was enforced by a military administration which remained in place until 1966 [Dieckhoff, p. 92] .

Israeli citizenship was only granted to those Arabs who had resided in the territory, without interruption, between 1948 and 1952, when a law on nationality was passed. Thousands of Palestinian refugees who fled Israel temporarily during the Independence War (1947-1949) could claim Israeli citizenship. They were only granted citizenship in 1980. However, in their absence the 1950 law of Acquisition of Absentees’ Property was enacted leading to a massive transfer of territory to the Israeli State [Dieckhoff, p. 93] .

Formally, Jews and Palestinian Arabs both enjoy equal citizenship rights. However, Arabs are not recruited to the military, which limits their ability to exercise their citizenship practice, rendering them less full members of the state [Shachar, p. 417] . Soldiers are often entitled to certain benefits such as supplementary children allowances, tax credits, assistance in mortgage payments etc… Since the Arab minority is not called to serve in the military, they are not entitled to these benefits, creating a form of disguised discrimination [Shachar, p. 418] .

References

*Al-Qazzaz, Ayad. "Army and Society in Israel" "Pacific Sociological Review" (Vol. 16, No. 2, 1973): 143-165
*Dieckhoff, Alain (2006). The nation in Israel: between democracy and ethnicity. In Haldun Gülalp (Ed.), Citizenship and Ethinic Conflict: Challenging the nation-state (pp 83-97). New York: Routledge.
*Migdal, Joel S. (2001). Through the lens of Israel: Explorations in State and Society. Albany: State University of New York Press.
*Rekhess, Elie. "The evolvment of an Arab-Palestinian national minority in Israel" "Israel Studies" (Vol. 12, No. 3 2007): 1-29
*Rosen-Zvi, Issachar (2004). Taking Space Seriously: Law, Space and Society in Contemporary Israel. England: Ashgate Publishing Limited.
*Shachar, Ayelet (2000). Ciizenship and Membership in the Israeli Polity. In T. Aleinikoff & D. Klusmeyer (Eds.), From Migrants to Citizens: Membership in a Changing World (pp 383-429). Washington D.C.: Brookings Institution Press.

Internet sources

* [http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/1950_1959/Law%20of%20Return%205710-1950 The Law of Return 5710-1950]
* [http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2001/8/The%20Law%20of%20Return-%201950 The Law of Return 1950]
* [http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2001/8/Acquisition%20of%20Israeli%20Nationality Acquisition of Israeli Citizenship]
* [http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/1980_1989/Defence%20Service%20Law%20-Consolidated%20Version--%205746-1 Defence Service Law-Consolidated Version]