Law of Return

The Law of Return is a statute passed by the Knesset, the parliament of Israel, on 5 July 1950, that grants every Jew the right to immigrate to Israel and, upon arrival, to receive Israeli citizenship. A 1970 amendment extended the right of immigration under the law to a Jew's children and grandchildren, their spouses, and the spouses of their children and grandchildren, broadening its reach beyond those who would themselves be considered Jewish under Jewish religious law. The law does not apply to a Jew who has previously converted to another religion, and a further amendment addressed the status of individuals convicted of endangering public safety or Jewish community interests, allowing their immigration to be refused. Enacted just two years after Israel's establishment, the Law of Return has remained one of the country's most significant and, at times, most debated pieces of legislation, central to its self-definition as a Jewish state and to ongoing public and legal argument over exactly who qualifies as Jewish for the purposes of the law.