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 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 abolishing the right to Israeli citizen - ship for 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 applied at the discretion of the Israeli Minister of the Interior, including that: • they have resided in Israel for at least three out of the five preceding years; and • they have legally settled in Israel. The applicant may also be required to renounce their prior nationality. 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, although this is a reasonably long process, impos - ing different requirements.
Domicile Israeli law does not recognise the concept of domicile. 7.2 Expeditious Citizenship Israeli citizenship for a Jew becomes effective on the date of arrival in Israel, or the date of receipt of a new immigrant’s certificate, whichever is later. However, a Jewish person may declare, within three months, that they do not wish to become an Israeli 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. 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. Upon receiving a guardianship request, the court will examine whether a durable power of attorney (see 8.3 Planning for Incapacity ), instructions for the appoint - ment of a guardian or any other expression of wish have been prepared or registered by the intended ward in any registry. If a durable power of attorney has been granted, then the process will be conduct - ed by the Government Administrator General. If there are instructions for the appointment of a guardian, or any other document expressing a relevant wish, the guardian mentioned must confirm their consent to the appointment, and be joined to the proceedings for that purpose. From the date of appointment, the guardian is subject to the supervision of the Government Administrator
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