Immigrant family fights expulsion after state rules they're not Jewish
Interior Ministry: Citizenship status granted to the two women was based on false information
By Dana Weiler-Polak Tags: immigration police Israel newsSivan (not her real name) went to the Interior Ministry office in Tel Aviv to update her address after she and her partner moved. But within a few minutes Sivan found herself a non-citizen and without any identification papers.
"The clerk checked my details in the computer, asked me for my documents including my identity card, took it all and told me, 'You are not a citizen, you need to leave the country.' I suddenly felt the ground falling out from under me," said Sivan, 31.
That was in August 2008. Sivan had no advance notice.
Sivan and her mother Rina (also not her real name) immigrated to Israel in 1991. They lived perfectly normal lives until one day in 2008, the ministry decided that were not Israeli citizens - yet did not officially notify anyone. Since then the two women have been denied their basic human rights, and have no identifying documents or health care.
Rina, 57, will not reveal her name, fearing she may lose her job. She and Sivan were born in Georgia under the Soviet Union. After she divorced, Rina moved to Israel with Sivan in 1991.
"We presented my mother's documents [showing] she was Jewish and of course we are too, so we received all the approvals, we made aliya and lived for years in Rishon Letzion, and everything was fine," said Rina.
In 2002 she went to visit her brother in Georgia. He also wanted to come to Israel, so they went to the Israeli consulate to start the process. He came to Israel at the end of the year, thinking it would speed up the process, but the Interior Ministry office in Tel Aviv told him his documents were forged and he had to leave the country. He did not understand, no one listened to him, and in the end he was forced to leave Israel.
Rina also was asked to come to the Ministry at that time, and without any advance warning, her documents were taken away from her. "They simply grabbed my [identity card] from my hand and said I was not Jewish, and until Sivan came they would not give me my identity card back. When she came they took hers too," said Rina. They got them back when they returned to the ministry office with a lawyer a few weeks later.
The ministry repeatedly ignored her attempts to explain she was Jewish, including a notarized translation of her birth certificate, so Rina petitioned the High Court of Justice.
A month and a half ago, the ministry's Oz unit, which enforces immigration policy, came to Rina's home and asked for her documents. She presented the only thing she had to prevent her expulsion, a temporary restraining order from the High Court allowing her to stay until her case is completed.
The case has been delayed since the ministry says it lost the file.
The Interior Ministry said: "The two came in 1991 on the basis of documents allegedly showing their right to status in Israel under the Law of Return. In 2002, when Rina's brother applied for Israeli citizenship based on the same documents, it turned out they were forged and the status granted to the two women was also based on false information. Therefore, the matter was examined at all professional levels and even by the committee on cancelling status, which found it appropriate to cancel their status for these reasons.
"Despite all this, the mother and daughter were asked to produce a document testifying to the daughter's military service, and this matter will be examined appropriately. In any case, the matter is now being heard in the the High Court of Justice and we cannot comment."
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Really we should not throw people out we should give them a chance. Their work would add to the tax basis and they could inter marry with nice Jewish families. They want to be Jewish. Probably a nice family. How many people in the world hate Jews and you have someone who wants to be Jewish? Rankoo-Karoon
Worse, there are different opinions in Israeli politics which are religious and secular that are opposing. sometimes the religious ones are opposing. Nothing like Germany. Shame on you. This is a Democracy, like all other Democracies, different parties have different opinions.
another case to prove that israel is "the only democracy in the middle east"
Okay. They probably went through hell to leave the Soviet Union, who knows what happened to them there, but they loved Israel enough to believe things would be better for them there. Look into their Judaic past, but do not treat them like animals and steal their documents away; that's not what Israel is about. Hear their case, let them explain, investigate...but give them time. They lived in Israel a long time as citizens, give them a break; especially if they've done nothing wrong and have contributed to the economy.
But I am a German, completely German. My father won the Iron Cross in the Great War!
As usual there are 3 sides to the story - your side, my side and the truth. On the one hand number of non-Jews came with forged documents. On the other number of Jews who lost their birth certificates and then recieved a copy from Soviet birth registration office were denied entry because Israeli officials were afraid of forgery. If Israeli interior ministry's standards would be applied to Israeli citizens many of them would lose their status (everyone who lost original birth cirtificate).
Sub judice is a Latin legal term meaning the case is being considered by the court and therefore one must refrain from comment until the court makes its ruling. It's intended inter alia to avoid trial by the media.
don't know the word, "Judice".
kinda makes you wonder about the entire system .
As the case is now in court, there isn't much one can say legally. From what I recall Soviet Jews were allowed into Israel whether or not they were Halachically Jewish, so long as they had a Jewish grandparent.
Every attempt should be made to verify that the documents are real or forged. If the documents are forged, then back they go to Georgia they all should go. There have been thousands of non-Jews from the former USSR forging documents to emigrate to foreign countries. I'd also like to know what criteria were used to determine if the documents were forgeries.