Are most Jewish converts not recognised as Jews by the Israeli Rabbinate or government?
It’s a bit more complicated than that. A person is Jewish – according to *all* Jewish movements – if their mother is Jewish. In Israel there are big problems because of some *specific* Christian evangelical groups, Messianics, who get to Israel, claim they are ‘jews’, and then go round targetting new immigrants and young children for conversion to their form of Christianity. They are extremely aggressive, highly deceitful, and utterly immoral. We have also had cases where *some* of these Messianics have actually undergone Reform conversions, and THEN gone INTO Synagogues and started trying to preach Christianity. So in Israel, there have to be some protective measures against this sort of thing. But under the Law Of Return ANYONE who has one Jewish grandparent can get immediate citizenship in Israel – EVEN if their mother is not Jewish and thus they are not Jewish according to Jewish law. Does that help clarify at all?
