Refugees from Ukraine face unreasonable demands from the Ministry of the Interior and the Population and Immigration Authority and are required to present a series of documents to confirm their Jewishness in order to obtain an immigrant certificate and identity card, even though they have converted properly, according to activists.
According to the activists, this is an abuse of officials that causes suffering to those who fled the war and were supposed to be received in the country with open arms.
In a recent letter sent by the President of the Conference of European Rabbis, Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, to President Yitzhak Herzog, he expressed outrage at the alarming trend and asked for help to alleviate the people who encountered a bureaucratic checkpoint when they arrived in Israel.
In the letter, Rabbi Goldschmidt outlines the claims of the aliyah activists in the Jewish organizations, who accompany immigrants living in Israel.
"According to their testimony, the refugees are asked to leave the 'hotspots' set up for the refugees and sent to the Ministry of the Interior, where they are required to present a series of impossible documents," he writes. "Injustice cries out to heaven."
Among other things, the activists noted that the converted refugees are required to provide a certificate of integrity from the Ministry of Internal Security of Ukraine, a bachelorette certificate and verification of documents by the Ukrainian Ministry of Interior.
According to the rabbi, these are "demands that have no need and there is no chance in the world to accept them these days."
In addition, they are required to provide an affidavit regarding the preparation process for the conversion, an affidavit from the rabbi who prepared for the conversion and a statement from a competent body in a recognized Jewish community about belonging to a Jewish community after conversion - within 30 days.
The absurdity, says Rabbi Goldschmidt, is that the Ministry of the Interior has recognized these conversions throughout the years, so there is no need for additional documents other than a conversion certificate issued by a recognized court.
In his letter, Rabbi Goldschmidt asked the president to intervene.
The Population and Immigration Authority responded: "The Population and Immigration Authority, in light of the situation of claimants returning from Ukraine, has made many exceptions to the accepted document requirements for obtaining status in Israel. However, there are documents that can not be waived. Documents required. "
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