Dr. Yona Shearki: "The State of Israel is Flooded with Non-Jews on Purpose. This is a Real Danger to Its Jewish Future"

Beneath the media and public radar, thousands of people, who fall under the label "eligible under the Law of Return," immigrate to Israel periodically. But is their arrival truly a positive move as some portray it? We set out to answer this question with Dr. Yona Shearki, one of the country's leading migration experts, who tells 'Hidabroot': "The State of Israel is facing a real threat due to this immigration."

Do not misunderstand; Shearki is not opposed to Jewish immigration to Israel. On the contrary, he warmly supports Jewish immigration, "but here," he explains, "it's not about Jewish immigration but rather non-Jews making their way to Israel for one reason – to improve their quality of life." After a moment of reflection, he adds: "We have a right-wing government in full, and it is imperative that it supports this struggle."

Shearki, 40, is an expert in international law. In his youth, he was sent to represent Israel at the academy of the International Court in The Hague, as part of a generation of young and promising jurists sent periodically from various countries worldwide to the Court. Since returning to the country, he utilizes his legal skills to combat what he perceives as a significant threat to Israel's Jewish future.

"The current situation is very problematic for us, posing a real threat to Israel's Jewish future," he argues. "This situation is evident, for example, in the story of the aliya from Ethiopia of the Falashmura. In fact, today every Ethiopian discovering that one of their great-grandfathers was Jewish, even if that ancestor died before the State of Israel was established and even if centuries have passed since then, can rest assured about their future. They can live in a Western advanced country because the Jewish state allows them, as a complete Christian, to immigrate to Israel and settle here, just because of that distant ancestor."

"It goes without saying that the outcome for Israel is particularly problematic, and the world’s only Jewish state is constantly flooded by tens of thousands of non-Jews," Shearki continues, outlining the absurd situation that exists today. "Moreover, some of the immigrants are antisemitic individuals who persecuted Jews in their countries, yet they are now making their way to Israel in exactly the same manner as the Jews whom they pursued. In the African case, they exploit this to upgrade their status and move to an advanced Western country."

How did this farce of the massive immigration of non-Jews from Ethiopia to Israel begin?

"The journey to the country by immigrants from Ethiopia began with a right-wing step," Shearki clarifies. "It was done according to the ruling of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, of blessed memory, in the mid-1990s, which allowed them to immigrate, based on evidence showing their descent from a Jewish mother. Accordingly, upon arriving in Israel, they were required to undergo conversion."

"But since then, the picture has changed completely: Those immigrants known as 'Beta Israel' have long since finished immigrating, and today there is a new group – the Falashmura, whom no rabbinical authority recognizes as Jewish. This group received permission to immigrate to Israel through legislation passed in the Knesset."

Why did the State of Israel take such a step to open its gates to these non-Jews?

"It happened simultaneously with the immigration of the 'Beta Israel' Jews, then the Falashmura claimed: 'We are the 'Anusim' (descendants of those who converted under duress due to pressure from authorities – D.P.). No one confirmed their claim, but the State of Israel saw it as a very small group and decided to allow them to immigrate as well. A 'return to Judaism' process was conducted for them, and they arrived in Israel. But it didn't stop there. These groups began replicating. For every Ethiopian, Israel represented a country that radically improved life quality, and we reached a rather bleak situation where Israel finds itself under constant Christian immigration from Ethiopia seeking to better their lives."

"If this problematic situation wasn’t enough, additionally – due to inappropriate political pressures – the decision recognizing them as Jews based on descent from a Jewish mother has changed over the years. Now, even descendants of a father’s Jewish lineage can pack their bags and land at Ben Gurion Airport with just one government decision and a few forms – just because one of their great-grandfathers was Jewish…"

Isn't anyone in the state leadership aware of this?

"They are aware, but for various reasons, they don't address it. The state comptroller at the time, Micha Lindenstrauss, noticed it and published a report in 2008 severely criticizing the situation."

Might they actually want to become Jewish?

"It's clear to us that they do not want to be Jewish. If these were wealthy people from an advanced country interested in immigrating, fine. It would show they are determined to join the Jewish people and are not coming just to enjoy the country’s benefits. Here, however, it is clear as day that the whole goal is to live in a modern Western state, not with a genuine aim to join the Jewish people. It means that we are bringing in many non-Jews who aren't planning to adhere to the Jewish people."

The Jewish Connection of the War in Ukraine

How are you fighting against this problematic immigration?

"My office deals with this and related areas. Our ultimate goal is to combat illegal immigration to Israel and reduce non-Jewish immigration. We conduct this activity as a civil organization funded mainly by overseas donors."

Shearki and his team's battle is a multifaceted one: "Our goal is to carry out the fight by every possible means, and so alongside a legal battle, we approach members of the Knesset and present them with the problematic situation that Israel has reached on this issue. Recently we participated in a discussion at the Aliyah and Absorption Committee. Unfortunately, we find ourselves on the defensive there because of the committee chairperson's identity, MK Oded Forer from Israel Beytenu."

But there is also an optimistic note. Shearki shares that some politicians have realized the situation and decided to fight it. "As part of this, they initiated two operations about two years ago to bring immigrants to the country: Tsur Israel 1 and 2, with the aim to bring five thousand people and close the activity in Ethiopia for good. But as in previous rounds, it’s happening now too. After these thousands have been brought to the country, various elements now claim that eligible people still remain in Ethiopia. In fact, this saga has been accompanying Israel for many years, and every time Israel seeks to close the waiting camps in Ethiopia and lead ‘the last Jews’ in swift operations, they always discover ‘the last Jews’ who refilled the camps."

Do you have an example of a success you have had in this fight against immigration?

"I will share one of our notable successes with the help of divine providence. In one of our appeals to the court, we requested something simple: Israel has a clear law defining those eligible to come to the country, which is the Law of Return. Under this law, someone with Jewish parents or who converted themselves can immigrate. In the current case, we are bringing in people who do not meet these definitions, registering here a violation of the equality principle between eligible Law of Return immigrants worldwide and the Falashmura. Furthermore, it results in the fact that someone not eligible for immigration under the Law of Return (a Falashmura person),but instead through a special government decision made for this purpose, receives better conditions than the eligible person under the Law of Return. So while a Falashmura person can immigrate along with great-grandchildren, any other Law of Return eligible cannot do so."

"Following the petition, the court ordered about a year ago to halt the Falashmura immigration until their legal status is clarified. As a result, the immigration of those Christians to Israel greatly reduced, providing us breathing space. However, the court recently decided not to meet our request, claiming there was no breach of legislators’ authority."

Shearki describes the moments he realized that Israel might enter another spin of non-Jews settling in large numbers, against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine: "We also led a fight against non-Jewish immigration from Ukraine due to the war. At the outset, heavy pressure was applied to Israel to bring Ukrainians as war refugees. We immediately approached the competent authorities and recommended restricting Ukrainian immigration only to those already eligible according to the Law of Return. Additionally, we suggested Israel set a total of 30,000 immigrants it can take, deducting the 10,000 Ukrainians already living in Israel illegally. Our proposals were accepted. However, a petition was filed with the High Court on this issue. We didn’t know what the court would decide, but we relied on the idea that Europe’s doors would open for those escaping Ukraine – and they would prefer Europe over Israel. And indeed, we gained several months, after which it became clear we were correct in our assessments: Ukrainian refugees preferred to remain in Europe."

Are there organizations fighting against you that try to bring these non-Jews to the country?

"There are organizations fighting against us, trying to recruit public officials to their cause and acting to prevent the completion of the aforementioned government decision that determined the 'Tsur Israel' operations would be the last to bring Jews from Ethiopia. Their ultimate goal is to replicate their success years ago when two MKs shackled the government and forced it to bring the rest of Ethiopian Jews to the country in exchange for their Knesset votes. However, now, their situation is not simple, given that the government is a broad right-wing government, making it difficult to rally four MKs to support the move."

"Their activity," notes Shearki, "takes place alongside a well-coordinated campaign. They address the public and start to drip-feed the message that Israel is breaking up families by not allowing the Falashmura to come to the country. But the real question to ask is: what are those already here doing? After all, they also arrived here, essentially in an illegal manner."

The Party Fighting to Bring Non-Jews to Israel

In practice, how many people have been brought from Ethiopia contrary to initial expectations?

"The number is very high. Already around 15 years ago, a survey was conducted of all the individuals eligible for immigration under these laws, which, let’s recall, originally are not laws that bring here kosher Jews. The survey determined that in total, residing in Ethiopia – in the broadest numbers imaginable, considering the Ethiopian organizations’ claims and the findings of the Population and Immigration Authority – 26,000 were eligible for immigration. Since composing that report until today, 18,000 more immigrants have come to Israel than those estimates quantified."

Is there a substantial fear of harming Israel’s demographic balance?

"Surely there is such fear. Not many know that since 2016, although the birth rate of Jewish children is equal to or even higher than that of Arabs, the Jewish majority is not growing simultaneously. On the contrary. From 1990 until today, we have lost ten percent of the Jewish majority. We see this in field data, where the group that is significantly growing here is the group of those without religion, which means non-Jews immigrating to the country."

Is there collaboration with organizations bringing them that leads to flooding the country with non-Jews?

"The answer is: yes. Unequivocally. The Israel Beytenu party works to bring non-Jews to the country. The reason is that the party benefits from the immigration of non-Jews from Commonwealth countries since they vote for it in large numbers, and thus they encourage their immigration. Over the past few years, Lieberman has ensured being on top of the immigration and absorption lever to Israel, allowing him to control the means and places where migration encouragement to Israel is conducted.

"The arm of the Israeli state on the matter is the 'Nativ' organization operated by Lieberman's people. The organization, which reports to the Prime Minister, incorporates prominent figures from Lieberman's party, and here the problematic picture becomes clear: it turns out that 'Nativ' does not encourage immigration in areas with high Jewish concentration but operates in cities that are not Jewish homes throughout the former Soviet Union countries. The reason is simple and scandalous alike: Israel Beytenu knows that if it raises people with Jewish affinity, they may vote for other parties. Conversely, if it brings entirely non-Jews with no Jewish affinity, their tendency to vote for the Israel Beytenu party is guaranteed."

"In light of all this, we ask the Israeli government to join us in halting these problematic cases. It’s important to understand: without a Jewish majority, there will not be a Jewish state here. Therefore, we need to remove Lieberman's people from key positions concerning bodies responsible for Jewish immigration to the country; cease the 'Nativ' activity that is harmful in its operation and systematically does not assist by bringing non-Jews; and start seriously fighting for our Jewish majority. After all, the state was founded here to serve as a home for the Jewish people."