Immigration Consultation

The Law of Return was enacted by our nation’s founders in order to ensure efficient and trouble-free immigration to Israel, so that the State of Israel will become the eternal homeland for the Jewish people and their descendants. However, the question of who is a Jew for the purpose of the Law of Return raises complicated issues that have continued to be at the heart of legal and political discourse in Israel for the past sixty years. When this question has been applied to immigration cases of members of various religious convictions who are descendants of Jews, it has created legal and bureaucratic hurdles which are seemingly insurmountable. During the first four and a half years since its inception, the Jerusalem Institute of Justice has helped well over 450 individuals navigate these precarious waters and successfully immigrate to Israel.

Protection from Civil Discrimination

Because Israel is by definition a Jewish nation, (unlike many Western nations which have no official religion), many incidents of civil discrimination against non-Jews are actually rooted in religious discrimination. Unfortunately, governmental bodies and employers have discriminated against Israelis because of their religious convictions, and many standards which the state set for itself in its Declaration of Independence, laws and in various international conventions are breached on a daily basis.

The Jerusalem Institute of Justice has stepped in to handle such cases, ranging from preventing illegal refusal to grant zoning approval to secure properties as places of worship, to preventing illegal termination of labor contracts. The institute also ensures the execution of criminal investigations involving vandalism of places of worship along and perpetrators of violence against religious minorities and the properties belonging to them.

Educating and boosting Awareness in the Local Community

The Jerusalem Institute of Justice has developed an education program focused on religious minorities' legal and political rights. Through its annual “Know Your Rights” conference, the Jerusalem Institute of Justice trains current and future leaders of minority communities how to defend the rights of individuals and religious bodies. It also informs members of such communities how to navigate difficult issues such as their right to worship without transgressing Israel’s anti-proselytizing laws.

Our 2007 “Know Your Rights” conference dealt with four basic topics: (1) The right of religious minorities with Jewish ancestry to immigrate to Israel, (2) The right religious minority organizations to attain the status of “Public Institutions,” thus granting them significant tax benefits including the ability for donors to receive a 35% tax refund on donations throughout each fiscal year, (3) The right for religious minorities to receive exemptions from municipal property taxes of their respective houses of worship, and (4) The right to openly live out one’s faith in Israel, while safely navigating the anti-proselytizing laws.