The Israeli government has planned an immigration reform. According to it, it will be much more difficult for immigrants to obtain an Israeli passport.

Who will be eligible for an Israeli passport after the reform? Those immigrants who prove that they have settled in Israel and intend to live there permanently.

How is it now? As of 2017, new immigrants receive a passport automatically after citizenship.

There will be other changes as well. The government also wants to change the «Law of Return,» including a clause whereby anyone can obtain citizenship if he or she has at least one Jewish grandfather or grandmother.

As Interior Minister Aryeh Deri said, it’s time to stop the «action» in which people are granted citizenship under the Law of Return, enjoy their right to a passport and a package of government benefits, and then return to where they came from.

The excitement around the passport law arose after the publication of data that numerous new immigrants, especially from Russia, received Israeli passports and then quickly left the country. However, there are also opinions that politicians deliberately spread this information to generate public support for the amendments to the Law of Return.