Israeli citizenship law
Israeli citizenship law details the conditions by which a person holds citizenship of Israel. The two primary pieces of legislation governing these requirements are the 1950 Law of Return and 1952 Citizenship Law.
| Citizenship Law, 5712-1952 חוק האזרחות, התשי"ב-1952 | |
|---|---|
| Knesset | |
| Citation | SH 95 146 |
| Territorial extent | Israel |
| Enacted by | 2nd Knesset |
| Enacted | 1 April 1952 |
| Commenced | 14 July 1952 |
| Legislative history | |
| First reading | 20 November 1951 |
| Second reading | 25–26 March 1952 |
| Third reading | 1 April 1952 |
| Repeals | |
| Palestinian Citizenship Order 1925 | |
| Status: Amended | |
Every Jew has the unrestricted right to immigrate to Israel and become an Israeli citizen. Individuals born within the country receive citizenship at birth if at least one parent is a citizen. Non-Jewish foreigners may naturalize after living there for at least three years while holding permanent residency and demonstrating proficiency in the Hebrew language. Naturalizing non-Jews are additionally required to renounce their previous nationalities, while Jewish immigrants are not subject to this requirement.
The territory of modern Israel was formerly administered by the British Empire as part of a League of Nations mandate for Palestine and local residents were British protected persons. The dissolution of the mandate in 1948 and subsequent conflict created a set of complex citizenship circumstances for the non-Jewish inhabitants of the region that continue to be unresolved. While pre-1948 Palestinian Arab residents of the former mandate and their descendants who remained living in Israel were granted Israeli citizenship in 1980, those resident in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are largely considered stateless.