There are perhaps more than 100,000 Russian Christians who have come to Israel under the Law of Return -- by claiming a Jewis grandparent. They are not, however, recognized as Jews by he rabbinical authorities and therfore cannot marry a Jew in Israel unless they go through an orthodox conversion -- or have the wedding outside the country. See: http://forward.com/articles/129942/in-israel-many-russians-view-conversion-bill-with/
The point is that neither Israeli nor Jewish religious law is based on genetic claims. There are plenty of problems and injustices, but this isn't one of them. Evidence one way or the other wouldn't change anything.
Genetics has nothing to do with the various and complex criteria for defining Jewish identity. Israel isn't the only country that uses a concept of descent as a criterion for citizenship, even for people born outside the territory, and processes of so-called "naturalization." But Israel has its own peculiar "law of return," which is at odds with Jewish religious law and is ultimately based on protecting people who were victims of Nazi and other regimes of racism. The religious law has procedures for conversion, though there is considerable controversy about what they are and who can authorize them. Under the law of return, a spouse of a Jew is recognized as a Jew for the purposes of immigration. There are many Christians who have migrated to Israel under this law. A recent, very close decision of the Israeli Supreme Court appears to exclude this opening for a Palestinian spouse of an Israeli Jew, though the ruling mostly applies to marriages among Palestinians. There is plenty of injustice in Israel, no doubt, but arguments about genetic evidence are not relevant or helpful.
There are perhaps more than 100,000 Russian Christians who have come to Israel under the Law of Return -- by claiming a Jewis grandparent. They are not, however, recognized as Jews by he rabbinical authorities and therfore cannot marry a Jew in Israel unless they go through an orthodox conversion -- or have the wedding outside the country. See: http://forward.com/articles/129942/in-israel-many-russians-view-conversion-bill-with/
The point is that neither Israeli nor Jewish religious law is based on genetic claims. There are plenty of problems and injustices, but this isn't one of them. Evidence one way or the other wouldn't change anything.
Genetics has nothing to do with the various and complex criteria for defining Jewish identity. Israel isn't the only country that uses a concept of descent as a criterion for citizenship, even for people born outside the territory, and processes of so-called "naturalization." But Israel has its own peculiar "law of return," which is at odds with Jewish religious law and is ultimately based on protecting people who were victims of Nazi and other regimes of racism. The religious law has procedures for conversion, though there is considerable controversy about what they are and who can authorize them. Under the law of return, a spouse of a Jew is recognized as a Jew for the purposes of immigration. There are many Christians who have migrated to Israel under this law. A recent, very close decision of the Israeli Supreme Court appears to exclude this opening for a Palestinian spouse of an Israeli Jew, though the ruling mostly applies to marriages among Palestinians. There is plenty of injustice in Israel, no doubt, but arguments about genetic evidence are not relevant or helpful.