Immigrant Girl Whose Mother Professes No Faith to Be Registered As Jewish

An immigrant girl whose father is Jewish but whose mother professes no faith will be registered as Jewish by nationality, the Ministry of Justice announced yesterday. The ruling was made in the case of Nelly Miller, 23, a member of Kibbutz Nahshon, who has served in the Israeli Army. It stemmed from the Supreme Court’s ruling in the case of Lt. Commander Benjamin Shalit that a person may be registered as of Jewish nationality even if not Jewish by religion. An amendment to the Law of Return which will restrict Jewish nationality to persons born of a Jewish mother or converted to Judaism has yet to pass its final reading in the Knesset. In the meantime, the Shalit ruling applies, according to Deputy States Attorney Yoram Barsela.