Addressing the recent decision by the High Court of Justice to recognize conversions performed in Israel by the Reform and Conservative movements for the purpose of receiving citizenship under the Law of Return, Netanyahu said he was concerned about “fake conversions that could enter the country.”
“Any Reform, Conservative person, Israel is their home; that’s not an issue,” he said. “People can do this and they can come here, and that’s fine. The real issue is we have to protect and prevent fake conversions that could enter the country. You know a lot of people want to come into the country.”
“In fact, I put up a fence, you know,” he added. “They call it a wall. But I prevented the overrunning of Israel, which is the only first-world country that you can walk to from Africa. We would have had here already a million illegal migrants from Africa, and the Jewish state would have collapsed. The Jewish State, Conservative, Reform, Orthodox, would have collapsed.”
“Prime Minister Netanyahu knows that the conversion issue does not have any impact on migrant workers or the entrance of asylum-seekers to Israel,” number four on the labor list, Gilad Kariv, said.
“Making the connection between both topics is his way of continuing his quiet support for the wave of hate of the Charedi parties against the Supreme Court ruling,” he said. “Prime Minister Netanyahu has proven that he has no ability, nor real will, to heal the frictions within the Jewish people, and this task should be left to the next prime minister of Israel, who hopefully will replace Netanyahu very soon with support from the liberal parties in the Knesset.”
Over the past decades, There have been concerns in Israel over African work migration and refugees, with heated debates on both sides of the political aisle regarding their rights, and Israel’s role and responsibility towards the migrant community. Netanyahu’s statement that reform conversions would encourage migration is part of a larger Israeli battle for a Jewish demographic majority.
