Mazuz: Adoption doesn't constitute conversion

Mazuz: Adoption doesn't constitute conversion

Attorney general tells High Court adoption of child by non-Jewish

parents should not invalidate his right to make aliyah to Israel, by

virtue of his blood ties with Jewish people

Aviad Glickman Published: 02.02.09, 19:47 / Israel Jewish Scene

The adoption of a child by a non-Jewish family does not invalidate

his right to make aliyah to Israel in accordance with the Law of

Return, Attorney General Menachem Mazuz told the High Court of

Justice on Monday.

Mazuz's issued his opinion in response to a petition filed by Regina

Bernik, who asked to make aliyah to Israel by virtue of her father's

Jewishness, although she was adopted by a non-Jewish couple as a

child.

Bernik's request was turned down by the Interior Ministry, and she

decided to challenge it at the High Court.

The Law of Return, which was passed in 1950, is one of the

cornerstones of Israel as a Jewish state. The law states that every

Jew in the world is entitled to immigrate to Israel and receive

Israeli citizenship.

In 1970 an amendment to the law was passed that stated that the

eligibility to citizenship would apply to any Jew's spouse, his

children and grandchildren and their spouses, even if they are not

Jewish themselves.

According to Mazuz, the Law of Return does not discuss adoption and

does not refer to the possible implications of adoption on the right

of return. Therefore, the law is open to interpretation in this

regard.

Mazuz said that he preferred the legal interpretation by which

adoption does not constitute religious conversion, and therefore the

adoption process does not work to change the adopted child's religion

or biological affinity.

The biological offspring of a Jew who was adopted as child by a non-

Jewish family, and who seeks to make aliyah, is entitled to do so by

virtue of his own affiliation and blood ties with the Jewish people,

Mazuz stated. He added that the same should apply for a Jew's

grandchildren.

The court's ruling is expected within a few days.