Supreme Court candidate Ruth Gabison has proposed in a recent position paper that the Law of Return be significantly restricted, in order to limit Jewish immigration from countries with "a different culture." (Click here for full article)

"There is no reason to grant rights on the basis of the [Law of] Return to individuals who have no interest in a Jewish lifestyle, and at times are even devout members of a different religious community," wrote Professor Gabison.

The proposal is apparently intended to revoke the right to immigrate from the Falashmura, who are the descendants of Ethiopian Jews who converted to Christianity, as well as some of the children and grandchildren of Jews from former Soviet states.

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According to Gabison, limits on the immigration of Jews from "a different culture" must be considered. "Serious thought must be given to the immigration of large groups of people from a different culture," she wrote. "This is seen in a dramatic manner in the difficult absorption of Ethiopian immigrants in Israel."

Gabison wrote that the "state's interest to preserve the level of welfare of all its residents" must be taken in account in the context of immigrant absorption.

According to Gabison, when deciding whether to approve family reunification between Israeli Arabs and Palestinians, it would be "legitimate to examine the demographic aspects of the phenomena as well, and its effects on the erosion of the Jewish majority in Israel."