What should Israelis living outside the country do about registering our children with the Israeli Population Registry? The question raises many moral, political, legal, financial, and practical questions.
I’m a citizen from way back (1976) when my parents emigrated from the US to Jerusalem. My kids, however, both of whom were born in Canada, are not. My ex-wife and I always thought we’d like the kids to decide what they wanted when they were 18 or older. They are legally entitled to Israeli citizenship because I am a citizen.
Citizenship in the state of Israel, however, comes with all kinds of baggage, including possible mandatory military service, extra taxes while visiting the country, and legal problems if they were to try and visit specific Middle Eastern countries still at war with Israel, such as Lebanon or Iran.
Ethically, I’m deeply conflicted about Israeli citizenship laws. On the one hand, I’m in favor of the idea of giving Jews citizenship should they ever face oppression or discrimination in their home countries. Jewish history, to my mind, indicates a need for a place Jews can flee to when they face existential danger.
On the other hand, Israeli citizenship laws have long been used in discriminatory ways to exclude Palestinians and privilege the country’s Jewish character over that of its non-Jewish residents – Palestinians of Muslim, Christian, or Druze descent. I also understand the rage diaspora Palestinians feel when a Jew whose parents have lived peacefully in the US for one hundred years receives Israeli citizenship as soon as they ask for it, while a Palestinian whose parents lived for generations in Haifa but were forced to leave (or prevented from returning) in 1948 is denied the same privilege.
The issue is coming to a head because of Israel’s Corona-era travel rules. In the past, I’ve been able to travel to the country with my non-citizen children on their foreign passports. Now, however, the government says that any Israelis who visit the country during the pandemic should fulfill their legal obligations and register their children as citizens.
My kids and I planned this trip months and months ago when we thought Corona would be over and done with by summer 2021. I am loath to give up those plans, as this is the last opportunity I’ll have to travel with my daughter while she is still in high school. So, a few days ago, I bit the bullet and sent in the paperwork with their names on it, promising to fill out all the other forms and get the appropriate stamps once we return from our visit to Israel.
Update: The Israeli government solved the dilemma for me. The consulate in Chicago responded to my request for entry with my kids with a form email telling me to “send in my application,” which I had already sent them. I pointed this out, asked for a decision, and never heard back. We never made it to Israel in the summer of 2021! My daughter will be 18 soon and can make her own decision.
For more blog posts, see www.jamesron.org or www.jamesron.net.
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