Published: 2 October 2018
Last updated: 4 March 2024
Pulled aside at the border, they are questioned about their political views, their participation in protest movements, their visits to the West Bank, and their contacts with organisations and individuals critical of the government. The message is clear: If you don’t support the current Israeli government, you are not wanted here.
And yet some of these left-wing Jews not only refuse to be deterred, but have resolved that now, of all times, they wish to take advantage of the Law of Return – which allows Jews anywhere around the world to immigrate to Israel and take up citizenship.
Who are these Jews driven to make Israel their home knowing that they are not exactly wanted?
Based on conversations with close to a dozen of them – some preferred not to have their names published out of concern that it could jeopardise their chances of being approved for aliyah (literally “moving up,” the Hebrew word for immigration) – these are not your typical English-speaking immigrants of the 1960s and 70s.
FULL STORY Don't mention Zionism: These Jews have other reasons for moving to Israel (Haaretz)
Photo: Clockwise from top left: Carly Rosenthal, Hailey Mann, Julie Weinberg-Connors, Erez Bleicher, Vallie Rourke-Miller and Morris Alper
