"Reform and Conservative Jews openly say that that they do not feel discrimination [in the US] like they do here in Israel," Jewish Agency chairman Doron Almog said on Wednesday at the Committee for Immigration, Absorption, and Diaspora Affairs in the Knesset. Almog also said that it is about time for the Israeli government to invest larger sums of money into the process of aliyah.
"The State of Israel is the national state of the entire Jewish people," Almog said, saying that this includes "the ones who live in Zion and the ones who are in the Diaspora, from all [religious] streams in Judaism."
Almog mentioned that there are about 3 million Reform and Conservative Jews in the US. He revealed that he receives many letters from Reform and Conservative Jews, "with concerns and fears. They openly say that in the US there may be antisemitism, but they do not feel discrimination [in the US] like they do here in Israel."
Almog said that the fears are based on reports of "changing the Law of Return and the amendment of the Grandchild Clause," which "amplifies their feelings."
Almog said that "a change in this spirit could create a rift and alienate them from the Jewish people."He urged the participants of the committee: "We must not lose any Jew in the world because he is Reform or Conservative, we must act decisively to bring them closer together and make them feel that the State of Israel is the home of all Jews, including their own."
Olim absorption in Israel
Almog also addressed the challenges of absorption of olim in Israel: "The agency is the most important executive body of the State of Israel. Absorption is a national effort in which local authorities must take a more active part in, because immigration is an engine of growth. We need to create incentives for people to make aliyah - not only financial."
Almog gave examples: "High school students can volunteer and teach Hebrew at any of our 26 absorption centers in Israel," he suggested. He added that it is "forbidden to discriminate between Jews in the State of Israel," and that "the time has come for the State of Israel to allocate more budgets," for aliyah.
"Since the establishment of the state to date, Diaspora Jews have contributed hundreds of billions of dollars to the development and prosperity of the State of Israel. Today, when most of the world's Jews live in Israel, it is fitting that most of the budget should come from the State of Israel," Almog said, mentioning that it should be allocated by the government, as well as donations. "Jews around the world will contribute the remaining third," Almog concluded.
Chairman of the committee MK Oded Forer (Yisrael Beytinu) also addressed the committee."Israel's national institutions have an important role in the State of Israel," he said of the four national institutions: The Jewish Agency, the World Zionist Organization, Keren Hayesod, and the Jewish National Fund. Forer said that "the Jewish Agency should be at the forefront of the issue of Aliyah and make the voice of Diaspora's Jews heard."Forer, a strong apponent to any ammendment of the Law of Return, added that "the desire of the government to change the Law of Return, harms the Jewish people, Diaspora Judaism and the basis of the existence of the State of Israel, as a country that receives aliyah."