# Religion and immigration to Israel **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 13, 2007, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-and-immigration-to-israel/415486 "2007-08-13T22:06:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2007, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-and-immigration-to-israel/415486/1 "2007-08-13T22:06:29Z")
People don’t change nationalities at the drop of a hat, but suppose that I wanted to emigrate to Israel. What are the requirements; what is the process and what difference would ones religious or cultural background make? I assume that an application for a follower of Islam would get more than a quick once over. Would someone with a Christian, Buddhist or other religious heritage have any problems? Hopefully I’m not offending anyone by asking this. It’s something that I have wondered about for years. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2007, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-and-immigration-to-israel/415486/2 "2007-08-13T23:21:41Z")
> **[Migration Information Source](https://www.migrationpolicy.org/programs/migration-information-source)** > > The Migration Information Source provides fresh thought, authoritative data, and global analysis of international migration and refugee trends. For more about the Source, click here. The above link has some information on migration into Israel in recent years. It doesn’t directly answer your question but does show that a significant amount of non-Jewish migration occurs into Israel. From the link: “Beginning in the early 1990s, Israel began to invite non-Jewish, non-Palestinian temporary migrants workers to support its prosperous economy.” “The number of migrant workers that initially came to replace the Palestinian laborers reached a high of between 250,000 to 300,000 in 2003, but current official estimates at the end of 2003 place the number of migrants at about 189,000.” “Over half of the migrant workers in Israel are from Southeast Asia, with most, approximately 50,000, coming from the Philippines to work primarily in home health care. Approximately 30,000 Thai migrants work mostly in agriculture, and 15,000 Chinese migrants work in the construction industry. Other migrants come from India and Sri Lanka.” ---
**Author:** ![Puzzler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d07c76/32.png) [@Puzzler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Puzzler)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-and-immigration-to-israel/415486/3 "2007-08-15T22:05:03Z")
A couple of relevant formal pages: [http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Archive/Communiques/1998/IMMIGRATION%20AND%20EMIGRATION](http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Archive/Communiques/1998/IMMIGRATION%20AND%20EMIGRATION) [http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Facts+About+Israel/State/Acquisition+of+Israeli+Nationality.htm](http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Facts+About+Israel/State/Acquisition+of+Israeli+Nationality.htm) ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-and-immigration-to-israel/415486/4 "2007-08-15T22:52:07Z")
Israeli family law is based on religion (with seperate courts & rules for Jews, Christians, & Muslims), right? So how does that work for Buddhists, Hindus, etc? ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2007, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-and-immigration-to-israel/415486/5 "2007-08-16T06:42:27Z")
Thanks. From **Puzzler’s** [second link](http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Facts+About+Israel/State/Acquisition+of+Israeli+Nationality.htm) > [@](#): > > Adults may acquire Israeli citizenship by naturalization at the discretion of the Minister of the Interior and subject to a number of requirements, such as… So, how does the Department of the Interior decide who stays? I assume that everyone goes through some sort of a background check for association with criminal and/or terrorist activities, but how does this look in practice? ---
**Author:** ![Will\_Repair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a698b9/32.png) [@Will\_Repair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Will_Repair)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2007, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-and-immigration-to-israel/415486/6 "2007-08-18T05:24:38Z")
Something to consider also is US law (and policy) concerning dual citizenship. [http://travel.state.gov/law/citizenship/citizenship\_778.html](http://travel.state.gov/law/citizenship/citizenship_778.html)