Israel’s Citizenship Law
Israel’s Citizenship Law, 1952, establishes six different routes to becoming a citizen in the State of Israel. In this article, attorney Joshua Pex, a founding partner of our office and head of its Israel Immigration Department, will review these routes while citing the relevant sections of the law. Our law office, which specializes in immigration to Israel, has branches in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, and has extensive experience in obtaining Israeli citizenship for its clients as well as other options for legal residence in Israel.
Obtaining citizenship by virtue of the Law of Return
Section 2a of Israel’s Citizenship Law states that “Any person making Aliyah by virtue of the Law of Return, 1950, will become an Israeli citizen by virtue of Return, unless they have been granted Israeli citizenship by birthright according to Section 4 or by virtue of adoption according to Section 4b.” The Law of Return, 1950, is one of the most important laws in the Israeli statute book, allowing every Jew to make Aliyah to Israel. The question of “who is a Jew” entitled to make Aliyah by virtue of Return is sensitive and highly politically charged. Over the years, a number of significant Supreme Court decisions have been issued on the subject, which have led to legislative amendments to the Law of Return.
Today, the definition in Section 4B of the Law of Return, defining the right to Israeli citizenship, is that a Jew is “one who was born to a Jewish mother or who converts, and is not a member of another religion“, and according to section 4a of the Law, “the rights of a Jew according to this law and the rights of an Oleh according to the Citizenship Law, 1952, as well as the rights of an Oleh according to any other legislation, are also granted to the child and grandchild of a Jew, the spouse of a Jew and the spouse of a child or of a grandchild of a Jew; excluding a person who was Jewish and converted to another religion voluntarily.” Thus, the right to receive Israeli citizenship is also granted to those relatives of Jews who are mentioned in section 4a of the Law of Return.
Obtaining citizenship by virtue of living in Israel
Section 3 of the Citizenship Law states that “Anyone who was a subject of the Land of Israel on the eve of the establishment of the State, and was not an Israeli citizen according to Section 2, will become an Israeli citizen from the day of the establishment of the State“, granted the existence of certain conditions detailed in the section. The section applies to residents who were included in the population census conducted in the country in 1949, but since there were problems with the census, the citizenship law was amended in 1980 – after an additional, updated population census was conducted in the country – and section 3a was added to the law, which was expanded to include those who were not part of the population census of 1949.
Obtaining citizenship by birthright
Section 4(a) of the law states that “the following shall, from the day of their birth, be Israeli citizens by birthright: (1) Those born in Israel when their father or mother were Israeli citizens; (2) Those born outside of Israel when their father or mother were Israeli citizens — (a) By virtue of Return; (b) By virtue of residing in Israel; (c) By virtue of naturalization; (d) According to paragraph 1. (e) By virtue of adoption according to section 4b(1)”. Section 4(b) states: “For the purposes of this section, for a person born after the death of one of their parents, it is sufficient that that parent was an Israeli citizen at the time of their death.” We invite you to read another article we wrote on this section of the law.
Obtaining citizenship by virtue of birth and residence in Israel – for stateless people
Section 4a(a) of the Citizenship Law states that “anyone who was born after the establishment of the State in a place that was Israeli territory on the day of their birth, and has never had any citizenship, shall become an Israeli citizen, if they applied for it in the period between their 18th birthday and their 21st birthday, and if they were residents of Israel for five consecutive years preceding the date of submitting their application.”
Obtaining citizenship by virtue of naturalization
Section 5(a) states that “an adult who is not an Israeli citizen can obtain Israeli citizenship through naturalization if the following conditions are met: (1) they are located in Israel; (2) they have resided in Israel for three years out of the five-year period preceding the date of submission of their application; (3) they are eligible to reside in Israel permanently; (4) they have settled in Israel or intend to settle there; (5) they know Hebrew to some extent; (6) they have renounced their previous citizenship or proved that they will cease to be foreign citizens when they become Israeli citizens.” It should be noted that the requirement to renounce citizenship is unique to those obtaining citizenship by virtue of naturalization.
Even if the applicant fulfills all the cumulative conditions above, granting the citizenship itself remains at the discretion of the Minister of the Interior, who can refuse to do so (section 5(b) of the law). Moreover, citizenship via this route depends on a declaration of loyalty to the state: “Before the granting of citizenship, the applicant shall declare this statement: “I declare that I will be a loyal citizen to the State of Israel” (section 5(c) of the law).
Section 6 grants an exemption from the requirement for a naturalization procedure to those who have completed mandatory military service and Section 7 exempts the husband or wife who are foreign citizens from the naturalization procedure in cases where the spouse is Israeli or has been naturalized in Israel.
Section 8 establishes the law regarding the citizenship of minors: (a) “A person’s naturalization also grants citizenship to their minor child who, on the day of naturalization, was a resident of Israel or a resident of an area held by the Israel Defense Forces and the naturalized person was entitled to custody of the child, while Section 8(b) restricts a minor’s ability to become a citizen, if one of their parents is opposed to it: “If the minor was a foreign citizen and both of the parents were entitled to custody of the child and only one of them became a citizen, the minor’s citizenship shall not be amended according to subsection (a) if one of the parents has stated that they do not want the minor to become an Israeli citizen.”
Obtaining citizenship at the Interior Minister’s discretion
Section 9(a) sets out a list of conditions based on which the Minister of the Interior may grant Israeli citizenship to foreign citizens (non-Jews, since Jews are entitled by power of Return), whose actions the state appreciates and wishes to recognize, such as the Righteous Among the Nations and other people who have performed noble deeds for the benefit of the Jewish people. Or on a more national level, foreign athletes such as the Portuguese soccer player Miguel Vitor who currently plays for the Israeli national team, after the Minister of the Interior at the time, Ayelet Shaked, decided to grant him Israeli citizenship by virtue of this section of the law.
Section 9a states: “The Minister of the Interior may grant Israeli citizenship, by issuing a certificate and from the date specified in the certificate – (1) to a minor resident of Israel – at the request of their parents; (2) to the minor child of an Israeli citizen according to section 4(a)(2) – at the request of their parents; (3) to the child of an Israeli citizen according to section 4(a)(2), to a person whose Israeli citizenship was revoked according to section 10 when they were a minor – according to an application they submitted to the Minister between their 18th birthday and their 22nd birthday; 4) to an Israeli resident located in Israel, who the Minister is convinced identifies with the State of Israel and its goals and they or a member of their family served active service in the Israel Defense Forces or have worked significantly to promote the security, economy or another important matter of the state, or the granting of such citizenship is a special matter of the state; In this paragraph, “member of their family” – spouse, parent, child and sibling”.
Legal advice on obtaining Israeli citizenship – contact us
So, in this article attorney Joshua Pex explained the six ways to obtain Israeli citizenship according to the Citizenship Law. If you have questions about this subject or need assistance in any matter related to immigration to Israel, an Israeli immigration attorney from our office will be glad to be at your disposal. Our office, which has branches in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, has extensive experience representing clients in matters of obtaining Israeli citizenship in particular, and immigration to Israel in general – both before the Ministry of the Interior and before the legal courts. For any questions regarding immigration and obtaining status in Israel, you can contact an attorney from our office at the phone numbers and email address below.
This article was written in collaboration with attorney Adam Johnson.
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