ISRAEL Law and Practice Contributed by: Yaron Mehulal, Nataly Davidai and Shalom Hershkovitz, FISCHER (FBC & Co.)
7. Citizenship and Residency 7.1 Requirements for Domicile, Residency and Citizenship Citizenship The Law of Return, 5710-1950 grants every Jewish person the right to immigrate to Israel and to become (if they wish) an Israeli citizen. In this respect, a “Jew” means a person who was born to a Jewish mother, or has converted to Judaism and is not a member of another religion, as well as the child and the grand - child of a Jew, the spouse of a Jew, the spouse of a child of a Jew and the spouse of the grandchild of a Jew, but not any person who: • was a Jew and has voluntarily converted their religion; • has been engaged in an activity against the Jewish people; • may endanger public health in Israel or the security of the State of Israel; or • has a criminal record and is likely to endanger pub - lic welfare in Israel. It should be noted that the Israeli government is cur - rently considering the abolishment of the right of citi - zenship of grandchildren of a Jew and their spouses, if they are not Jews themselves. A non-Jew adult may acquire Israeli citizenship by naturalisation subject to several requirements, all being at the discretion of the Israeli Minister of the Interior, including: • they have resided in Israel for at least three out of the five preceding years; and • they have legally settled in Israel. It may also be required that the person’s prior nation - ality be renounced. Residency A Jew eligible for citizenship is also eligible for per - manent residency. A non-Jew may apply for residency (temporary or permanent) under certain circumstanc - es, which is a fairly long process, imposing different requirements.
Domicile Israeli law does not recognise the concept of domicile. 7.2 Expeditious Citizenship Israeli citizenship of a Jew becomes effective on the day of arrival in Israel, or receipt of a new immigrant’s certificate, whichever is later. However, a Jewish per - son may declare, within three months, that they do not wish to become a citizen. There are no expeditious means for a non-Jewish indi - vidual to obtain citizenship. 8. Planning for Minors, Adults with Disabilities and Elders 8.1 Special Planning Mechanisms Although Israel’s Trust Law does not specifically pro - vide for a special needs trust, such a trust can be set up. It is customary to define in such a trust the standard of care to be granted to the disabled person as well as the means for the treatment of the disabled person, including their right to use family assets such as family homes. Any adult can prepare for the unfortunate event that they become disabled by signing a durable power of attorney appointing one or more agents to act on their behalf in financial, medical and personal affairs when said person shall no longer be able to make decisions and act in such matters. The durable power of attor - ney may include explicit instructions as to the extent of authority of each agent and the standard of care the person wishes to receive, as well as other preliminary instructions, which can also include directions as to the desired way of management of said person’s busi - ness and property. Unless instructed otherwise in the durable power of attorney, in implementing the dura - ble power of attorney the mandatory supervision of the Government Administrator General is not required. 8.2 Appointment of a Guardian A request for guardianship is submitted to a compe - tent court by a spouse, a parent or any other family member of the ward, or by the Israeli Attorney Gen - eral.
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