non religious Jews should be encouraged to come to the Holy Land, reports said Tuesday December 31.
The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) News Service reported that Sharon had countered statements by a religious minister who said secular Jews need not come to Israel.
"It should be possible for anyone who wants to become a Jew to do so," Sharon was quoted as saying in response to Health Minister Nissim Dahan’s remarks.
The Minister, who is known to be a religious politicians, reportedly suggested that secular Jews need not come to Israel. Dahan said Diaspora Jews should not immigrate to Israel if they would be unable to adopt a religious lifestyle once they got here.
ORTHODOX JEWRY
Dahan’s comments, before a convention of World Orthodox Jewry in Jerusalem, drew fire from the convention delegates, who were discussing the Jewish nature of Israel, the ICEJ News Service said.
The Minister has expressed concern about "the erosion of the state’s Jewish identity", adding that the presence of Jews in the Diaspora was a result of God’s benevolence. "We prefer a Jew overseas to a gentile in Israel," Dahan was quoted as saying.
Rabbis and Jewish leaders denounced Dahan’s statement, saying that Jews should be encouraged to immigrate to Israel without any connection to the political or religious situation in the country.
DISTORTION
"Dahan’s statements are a complete distortion of Judaism," Zevulun Orlev said. "The mitzva of immigrating to Israel is unconditional, and (Dahan’s statements) are a heresy against Zionism."
However, Interior Minister Eli Yishai has reportedly suggested that the Law of Return must be changed to ban gentiles from immigrating. The controversy comes at a sensitive time for Christian organizations including the ICEJ, which have encouraged Jews around the world to return to Israel.
There is also a discussion among the Christian community about preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ in Israel, who Christians believe was born in Bethlehem, now part of Palestinian territories.
