Based on an article in the Algemeiner Journal with *slight* editing
Gideon Sa’ar, Israel’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, recently made an impassioned plea for Jews to “come home” in light of surging antisemitism around the globe, including the Bondi Beach massacre in Australia.
But antisemitism alone won’t trigger a mass exodus of Jews to Israel — at least not yet. If Israeli leaders really want to persuade large numbers of Jews, especially Jews in the West, to immigrate to Israel, they must make some fundamental changes to the country. Right now, there are too many aspects of life in Israel that make it unattractive to Western Jews.
For instance, the whole process of immigrating to Israel can be quite daunting, especially if Israeli authorities question your Jewishness.
While Israel’s Law of Return grants any Jew the right to come to the country as an “oleh” (immigrant), this isn’t what always happens in practice. Israel doesn’t recognize many non-Orthodox streams of Judaism, which is extremely problematic considering that most Jews in the West are not Orthodox. In short, many Jews in the West won’t immigrate to Israel if the state doesn’t recognize them as Jews.
So we should definitely accept any person who comes with any bogus conversion performed by rabbis who don't follow Halacha and don't even believe in the most basic foundations of our faith. It must be enough that the person is considered Jewish by non-believing Jews and we should not require that they be Jewish according to Jewish tradition.
Many Western Jews who are secular also won’t want to live in a country where there’s no public transportation on Saturdays or other Jewish holidays and no civil marriage or divorce. Hence, if Israel’s leaders are intent on persuading Jews in the West to immigrate to the Jewish State, they should reform some of these onerous religious restrictions.
Why should the Jewish State be Jewish?? It should be a Gentile state inhabitated by people some of whom are actually Jewish. Did we pray for a return to Israel for 2,000 years in order to live more complete Jewish lives??? No. We just wanted to live in the Israel because of it's beautiful tourist attractions. There is nothing religious about it. ENOUGH with the onerousity! We want freedom from the constraints of heteronomous law. Have you ever heard of Kant, for crying out loud??!! The categorical imperative?? I learned that in first grade. If the Gentiles can't destroy Judaism from without - we must destroy it from within by jettisoning tradition.
Another major impediment to persuading Jews in the West to “come home” is Israel’s living standards. Right now, most Jews in the West enjoy a better standard of living than Israel can offer. To improve Israel’s standard of living, the Bank of Israel, OECD, and Israel’s Ministry of Finance have made a number of recommendations, including increasing labor productivity by reducing regulation and encouraging more Charedi men and Arab Israelis to participate in the workforce. Ultimately - everything is the fault of those backwards Charedim and Arabs. Same bunch.
The last paragraph is actually unkosher baloney. The standard of living in Israel is EXTREMELY high, so scratch it.
One major problem with Israel’s living standards is the high cost of living, which is among the highest in the OECD group of countries. Few Jews in the Diaspora will want to immigrate to Israel if they know the country’s cost of living is so absurdly high. The solution advocated by the OECD, former Competition Authority heads, and social protest movements is increasing competition in the economy and reducing import barriers. Israelis pay high prices for many goods, especially food products, due to the dominance of large conglomerates and monopolies, as well as restrictions on imports.
Housing is also very expensive in Israel. INSANE!! In fact, housing costs are the single largest drag on household living standards in the country. To alleviate this, the Bank of Israel, State Comptroller, and housing task forces have recommended measures such as releasing more state land faster for residential development and speeding up the country’s planning and permitting process, which is among the slowest in the OECD.
Over the last few years, the government has made some reforms to lower the cost of living and raise living standards, but there’s still much more to be done. Change is slow due to many factors, including the nature of Israel’s fractured party politics and the difficulty of creating and maintaining coalition governments, as well as resistance to reform by powerful business interests. Furthermore, Israel’s immense security challenges consume budgetary resources, political attention, and bureaucratic capabilities.
Indeed, perhaps the biggest factor discouraging Jews in the West from immigrating to Israel is the security situation. After all, many Jews would be hesitant to leave the West, where the prospect of war is almost zero, and go live in Israel, a country surrounded by bloodthirsty enemies determined to wipe it off the map. Unfortunately, Israel’s ability to control its security situation is limited, because peace is simply not possible if Israel’s enemies don’t want it.
If a person wants true security he should move to outer space because on earth there is no security. Have you ever heard of the nuclear bomb??
Nevertheless, Israel can still persuade Jews in the West to immigrate by matching or exceeding Western living standards and making itself a country where all Jews feel welcome. Is this an insurmountable challenge? Well, Israel is used to overcoming insurmountable challenges, which is why it has continued to endure and prosper.
