The case law of the administrative courts, which is favourable to citizens of other countries applying for Polish citizenship, mitigates the seemingly strict wording of the provisions of the Polish Act of 1920.<\/p>\n
The centuries-long dispersion of the Jewish community has meant that the rules for acquiring Israeli citizenship differ from the standard practices of other democratic states. The formation of Israel\u2019s citizenry as a result of the relatively recent (at the time of Israel\u2019s establishment, barely a few decades old) Jewish immigration to Palestine necessitated the adoption of an original framework of provisions on Israeli citizenship, which largely deviated from the classical solutions of \u2018jus soli\u2019 (ius soli<\/em>) and \u2018right of blood\u2019 (ius sanguinis<\/em>). This specificity found expression in the so-called \u2018law of return<\/strong>\u2019 (Hebrew: chok ha-shvut<\/em>, transl. \u1e25ok ha-shv\u016bt), <\/em>which also applied to persons who already held Polish citizenship.<\/p>\n The basis of the Israeli Law of Return is the Act passed by the Knesset on 1950 \u00a05 June(amended to a limited extent in 1954 and 1970). In the absence of a classic constitution, this Act is classified in Israel ( ) as a \u2018basic<\/em> law<\/em>\u2019. Its core provision (Article 1) introduces two key concepts:<\/p>\n Article 1 of the Israeli Law on the Right of Return ( ) (which is also the title of the law in question) states that \u201cevery Jew has the right to return to the country (i.e. Israel) as an oleh\u201d. Aliyah takes place on the basis of a visa for the returnee (oleh). Such a visa is granted to any Jew wishing to settle in Israel, unless the competent minister objects to this \u2013 on the grounds specified in the Act. These grounds can be found in Article 1(2)(a) and ( ) of the Israeli Law of Return:<\/p>\n (b) An oleh visa shall be granted to any Jew who has expressed a desire to settle in Israel, unless the Minister of the Interior is satisfied that the applicant <\/em><\/p>\n (1) engages in activities directed against the Jewish people; or <\/em><\/p>\n (2) may pose a threat to public health or national security;<\/em><\/p>\n (3) is a person with a criminal record who may pose a threat to the public good.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Under the provisions of the Israeli Citizenship Law (1952), arrival in Israel under the Law of Return \u00a0(settling in Israel as an olim) results in the acquisition of Israeli citizenship<\/strong>.<\/p>\n As mentioned, Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return may be obtained by an oleh, i.e. a Jew intending to settle in Israel. The key to being able to avail oneself of the Israeli Law of Return is therefore determining who is a Jew within the meaning of this Act.<\/strong> These doubts were resolved by the 1974 amendment. The then-added Article 4B states that \u201cfor the purposes of this Act, \u2018 \u2019 a Jew \u2019 is a person who was born to a Jewish mother or has converted to Judaism and is not a member of another religion\u201d. Israeli case law interprets this definition strictly, denying Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return to persons of Jewish descent who have formally adopted \u00a0other a religionthan Judaism. Such persons must apply for Israeli citizenship through naturalisation.<\/p>\n A key element of the Israeli Law of Return (affecting the acquisition of Israeli citizenship) is the retroactive effect of this law. As stated in Article 4, any Jew who arrived in that country (i.e. Israel \u2013 ed.) prior to the entry into force of this Act<\/strong>, and every Jew who was born in this country, whether before or after the entry into force of this Act, shall be deemed to have arrived in this country as an \u2018oleh\u2019 in accordance with this Act. <\/em>This provision applies primarily to those who arrived in the territory of Palestine (as a British Mandate territory) even before the establishment of the State of Israel, as part of the early Jewish immigration that laid the demographic foundations for its creation. As we shall see, this has implications for the situation of Israeli citizens who wish to confirm their Polish citizenship.<\/p>\n For historical reasons, many Israeli citizens have roots in the lands of present-day or pre-war Poland<\/strong>; their ancestors therefore included Polish citizens. Cases in which an Israeli citizen wishes to apply for Polish citizenship are therefore not isolated.<\/p>\n It is worth noting that the Act on Polish Citizenship, in force from 1920\u2013 1951, excluded (with certain exceptions) the possibility of a Polish citizen acquiring the citizenship of another state. We have already discussed these issues \u2013 in relation to the acquisition of Brazilian citizenship under the principle of ius soli <\/strong>( ) \u2013 on the lexplorers.pl blog [LINK]. Whilst in the case of acquiring citizenship under ius soli<\/em>, the status of citizen is acquired automatically by birth on the territory of the country in question, i.e. without any action on the part of the individual, a somewhat analogous situation may arise in the case of the Israeli Law of Return. The cited Article 4 of the Israeli Law of Return is based on a specific interpretation of ius soli<\/em><\/strong>. Individuals who emigrated to Israel prior to the establishment of the state and had Polish ancestors ( , which resulted in the acquisition of Polish citizenship) could acquire both Polish citizenship (ius sanguinis<\/em>) and Israeli citizenship (retroactive application of the Law of Return). Whether Polish and Israeli citizenship <\/strong>were in fact acquired simultaneously <\/strong>must be examined on a case-by-case basis. This is supported by the case law of the Supreme Administrative Court, which is favourable to applicants seeking confirmation of Polish citizenship, shaped against the backdrop of the concurrence of citizenship acquisition in jurisdictions where the jus sanguinis principle applies and the jus soli principle (Argentina: judgment ref. II OSK 2095\/21<\/strong>, Brazil: judgment ref. II OSK 1048\/23<\/strong>). The Supreme Administrative Court ruled in these cases that the fact that a person\u2019s ancestors acquired Brazilian (Argentine) citizenship by virtue of their birth in Brazil (Argentina) and the jus soli principle in force there \u00a0does not preclude the acquisition of Polish citizenship under the jus sanguinis principle \u00a0, contrary to the seemingly categorical wording of the Polish Act of 1920 (exclusion of dual citizenship). In the court\u2019s view, this provision was intended solely to prevent the acquisition of citizenship of another state as a result of actions taken by a Polish citizen, and being born to specific parents in a specific place cannot be classified as such an action. The interpretation adopted by the Supreme Administrative Court may also prove useful for analysing cases at the intersection of Polish and Israeli citizenship laws, supporting the argument that Jews exercising the right of return retain Polish citizenship.<\/p>\n Under the current legal framework, both Polish legislation (the Act of 2 April 2009 on Polish citizenship, Journal of Laws Journal of Laws of 2025, item 1611 ) and the Israeli Citizenship Law permit dual citizenship<\/strong>. This opens the way for foreign nationals to obtain Polish citizenship, and for those who can demonstrate that they acquired it as a result of specific events, even from the more distant past \u2013 \u2013 to confirm their Polish citizenship. We have described in detail the procedures that Israeli citizens (and others) must follow to acquire Polish citizenship in one of our articles: https:\/\/lexplorers.pl\/jak-uzyskac-obywatelstwo-polskie\/<\/a>).<\/p>\n Obtaining Polish citizenship by Israeli citizens: support from GWW<\/strong><\/p>\n The specialists at GWW provide comprehensive support to individuals who intend to apply for or confirm Polish citizenship: https:\/\/gww.pl\/en\/specjalizacje\/nationality-and-residence\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n As Polish citizenship entails numerous rights (participation in political life, the right to purchase property<\/strong>, access to the EU labour market) and a few obligations (we discuss this here [in Polish]: https:\/\/lexplorers.pl\/polski-paszport-prawa-i-obowiazki-wynikajace-z-bycia-obywatelem\/<\/a>), it is worth taking advantage of one of the routes to acquiring Polish citizenship that we have described on our blog: https:\/\/lexplorers.pl\/en\/how-to-obtain-polish-citizenship\/<\/a>).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Polish roots of many citizens of modern Israel mean that it is by no means uncommon for Israelis to apply for a Polish passport. It is therefore worth examining the effects of acquiring Israeli citizenship under the \u2018right of return\u2019 and the consequences this may have for efforts to obtain or confirm Polish citizenship. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":4943,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1029],"tags":[2494,2495,2281,2484,2492,2493],"coauthors":[1914],"class_list":["post-4945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-private-clients","tag-ius-soli-en","tag-ius-sanguinis-en","tag-immigration","tag-citizenship","tag-israel","tag-citizen"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAcquiring Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return<\/h2>\n
\n
Who is eligible for Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return?<\/h2>\n
Israeli Law of Return may have retroactive effect \u2013 implications for obtaining Polish citizenship<\/h2>\n
Israeli citizenship and Polish citizenship under the 1920 Act: the twists and turns of history<\/h2>\n
Polish citizenship, Israeli citizenship and dual citizenship<\/h2>\n