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The View From History - Returning Israel.
We now return to those early years of the state, to examine related
aspects of a question that would have enormous implications for
the development of Israel. In the second exercise of this part
of the program, we saw how the demographic picture of the Jewish
world has changed over the last half-century, in the wake of the
establishment of the State of Israel. In the last two exercises,
we saw examples of some of the kinds of individuals who came to
the country in the first years of the state. Such an enormous
demographic change, of course, did not just happen: it had to
be made to happen. Let us now examine some of the dynamics of
that change, and explore some of the dilemmas that developed as
a result.
The Holocaust decimated the world's Jews, destroying one in every
three. The State of Israel was established soon after this era,
and it was clear to many Jews that more changes were now needed.
This was especially clear to the leaders of the Zionist movement.
The time had come to start centralizing world Jewry in Israel.
There were two main reasons for doing this. One reason was to help
world Jewry - to ‘save’ them - in the words of the
Zionists and the leaders of Israel. To the Zionist leaders, the
idea was clear. The Holocaust had proved what many Zionist thinkers
had been saying for decades: life in the galut was simply not
safe for Jews. The lands of the galut were not a home for the
Jews, and could never be so. In those lands, there would always
be anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitism was endemic - a part of the way
in which the world works. Only by taking the Jews out of the galut
and centering them in their own land would life be safe for the
Jews. This was the raison d'être of Zionism: the Jews needed
Israel and needed to live there.
The Declaration of Independence said it in these words:
The Nazi Holocaust, which engulfed millions of Jews in Europe,
proved anew the urgency of the re-establishment of the Jewish
state, which would solve the problem of Jewish homelessness
by opening the gates to all Jews and lifting the Jewish people
to equality in the family of nations.
Israel’s Declaration of Independence
The second reason for trying to center the Jews in Israel was very
different. No less than the Jews’ needing the State of Israel,
the new state needed the Jews. Finally having obtained a political
entity, it was necessary to fill the county with Jews in order
to make it viable. A mere 650,000 Jews, the population of the
state when it was declared, was insufficient. No state could function
with such a small population, especially one that was threatened
with constant war from its neighbors. Without a substantial increase
in the Jewish population, the young state might well be doomed.
This idea, too, was echoed in the Declaration of Independence.
Our call goes out to the Jewish People all over the world
to rally to our side in the task of immigration and development
and to stand by us in the great struggle for the fulfillment
of the dream of generations - the redemption of Israel.
Israel’s Declaration of Independence
To the leaders of the State of Israel and of the Zionist movement
it was clear that the age-old idea of Jewish responsibility now
sat firmly on their shoulders. They identified the future of the
Jewish people with the State of Israel.
In July 1950, the Knesset discussed the idea of immigration and
formulated the Law of Return, which gives the automatic right
of immigration to any Jew who wishes to live in Israel, apart
from certain very specific categories of Jews. The law adopted
by the Knesset states the following:
1. Every Jew has the right to immigrate to the country.
2. Immigration shall be on the basis of an immigrant's visa.
An immigrant's visa shall be granted to every Jew who has
expressed his desire to settle in Israel, unless the Minister
of Immigration is convinced that the applicant is acting against
the Jewish people or is likely to endanger public health or
the security of the state.
Israel’s Law of Return
In the Knesset debate that preceded the vote, Prime Minister Ben
Gurion made a speech outlining the philosophy of open immigration
for all Jews to the State of Israel:
The State of Israel is a state like all the other states. All
the general indications (of statehood) common to the other
states are also to be found in the State of Israel. It rests
on a specific territory and a population existing within this
territory, it possesses sovereignty in internal and external
affairs, and its authority does not extend beyond its borders.
The State of Israel rules only over its own inhabitants. The
Jews in the Diaspora, who are citizens of their countries
and who want to remain there, have no legal or civil connection
to the State of Israel and the State of Israel does not represent
them from a legal standpoint. Nevertheless, the State of Israel
differs from the other states both with regard to the factors
involved in its establishment and to the aims of its existence.
It was established merely two years ago, but its roots are
grounded in the far past and it is nourished by ancient springs.
Its authority is limited to the area in which its residents
dwell, but its gates are open to every Jew wherever he may
be. The State of Israel is not a Jewish state merely because
the majority of its inhabitants are Jews. It is a state for
all the Jews wherever they may be and for every Jew who so
desires.
The Law of Return is one of the basic laws of the State of
Israel. It comprises the central mission of our state, namely,
ingathering of exiles. This law determines that it is not
the state that grants the Jew from abroad the right to settle
in the state. Rather, this right is inherent in him by the
very fact that he is a Jew, if only he desires to join in
the settlement of the land.
In the State of Israel the Jews have no right of priority over
the non-Jewish citizens. The State of Israel is grounded on
the full equality of rights and obligations for all its citizens.
This principle was also laid down in the Proclamation of Independence...
the right to return preceded the State of Israel and it is
this right that built the state. This right originates in
the unbroken historical connection between the people and
the homeland, a connection which has also been acknowledged
in actual practice by the tribunal of the peoples.
David Ben Gurion
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