RELIGION : Israeli Court Limits Citizenship
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JERUSALEM — Messianic Jews are not entitled to automatic Israeli citizenship, Israel’s Supreme Court has ruled, concluding that their belief in Jesus makes them Christians instead of Jews.
The ruling, published in Israeli newspapers today, was a boost to ultra-Orthodox religious interpretations of the state’s 1950 Law of Return. The law forms the basis of Jewish immigration to Israel.
The law and its subsequent amendments defines a Jew as a person born to a Jewish mother or who converts to Judaism and professes no other faith.
Orthodox politicians have long sought a more precise definition, and the court’s Christmas Day ruling has resolved one issue.
The 100-page decision said belief in Jesus makes one a member of another faith and ineligible for automatic Israeli citizenship.
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