Legal Civil Status

Family reunification is one of the most troubling issues facing members of mixed (intermarried) families in Israel. Many mixed families do not immigrate to Israel as a family unit. A survey conducted in 2002 by the Association for the Protection of Mixed Families' Rights (AMF) indicates that members of mixed families who remain in their countries of origin do so mostly to settle family matters and personal affairs (primarily in order to take care of unwell or elderly relatives) or on the recommendation of the local Israeli Consulate.

However, as these family members - who are not eligible to immigrate to Israel under the Law of Return (see below for a definition of this Law) - enter Israel in order to reunite with their families, they realize that acquiring Israeli citizenship is not as simple a matter as had been promised them. The harsh policy of the Ministry of Interior's Population Administration leaves many members of mixed families without any legal civil status whatsoever for years on end, while some of them are granted a temporary status while simultaneously being denied the possibility of ever obtaining a permanent status in Israel.
Members of mixed families who encounter difficulties in attempting to resolve their legal civil status in Israel primarily fall into the following categories:

The Expected Injury to Mixed Families' Rights Following Amendment no. 19 to Israel's Entry Law