Rabbi Andrew Sacks of the Masorti Movement in Israel has called attention to the fact that more and more Jews who are not of white-European descent are being denied the right to make aliyah or granted citizenship if they are already in Israel. 

A few days ago I posted an article about the arrest by Interior Ministry officials of an African-American Jew by Choice who was ordered deported for no crime. Recently I wrote of a Chinese Jew denied Aliya after his conversion in California (he had studied Judaism for four years). Now it is the Native Americans in Peru. Racism is running rampant in the Interior Ministry and nobody there will lift a finger to even look into the matter.   (From Rabbi Sacks’ FB page)

These overt expressions of intolerance are neither consistent with the values and teachings of Judaism or with the highest ideals of Zionism.    Israel’s Interior Ministry which is run by haredim are guilty of turning the Jewish State into the kind of racist entity her most vociferous enemies have long accused her of being. Rather than behaving like statesmen responsible for helping to manage the affairs of a democracy, these people are acting like 19th Century gate keepers of an old-world Jewish ghetto.

Please use the links below to read published stories in the Israeli press about the recent shameless decisions of Israel’s Interior Ministry.

Israel threatens to deport African American convert to Judaism

Peruvian converts denied permission to immigrate to Israel