... and, anyway, the Jewish Agency doesn't have the same standard for recognizing someone as Jewish as the Interior Ministry, which itself doesn't have the same standard as the rabbinate. Based on what we can gather, without a court order forcing the Agency to disclose it's policies: The determination whether one is Jewish is whatever proof is most difficult to access and which is least likely to be obtained, thus "compelling" the Agency to participate.

Has my ID number , under Nationality and above "country of birth" [ Hebrew side , not on the Latin letters side ]

than 27 years in Europe , said farewell to my birth country more than 10 years ago , and still pleased with MY country , don't think to return to live there .

You are fantasizing with your codes in Israeli ID. I have on my ID all the same as you including Hebrew birthday date... And I'm no jew!

Depression tomorow.

I have been in Israel for 25 years from Australia and I love it here so keep your nasty pen shut. By the way, friends of mine from South Africa are trying to get into Australia. Talk about beaurocracy and paperwork. Israel is nothing in comparison with trying to get into Australia.

According to the Ministry of Interior you are Jewish (not even "half-Jewish," i.e. from the father's side). After all this time parading your goyishness, it seems that one institution considers you a Jew. If you're certain they are wrong you can go down to the Interior Ministry and have them print you a new ID; correcting the mistake. But it does seem that, while the rabbinate may not consider you Jewish, the state of Israel does. Let us know how that works out.

Do they hold information about me that I am not aware of?

Nasty maybe, but realistic.

Yes.

I found it, thanks Charles.

This article has generated much discussion about living in Israel and living in the Diaspora. I ask you to take THE TRUE TEST. Answer the question honestly. Answer the question without pride or prejudice. THE TEST: You are at a mall with your children and notice you youngest son, only 5 years old, has gone missing. You are frantic, and begin searching around. Now, ask yourself the following question: Would you feel more or less relief knowing that he is missing in a mall in Israel, or in all in the Diaspora? Arena Mall in Herzliya or Aventura Mall in Miami? Ra'anana Mall or Yorkdale Mall in Toronto? Etc. So, before you contemplate leaving Israel for what you percieve to be a better place for your children, I ask you to think good and hard about your answer. Before you start measuring quality of life using only financial metrics, think hard about your answer.

Israel are full of over priced shops that sell clothes 50-70% more than in Europe. The average salary is very low in IL to afford the clothes in there. Have I passed the test?

You failed to comprehend the test question. If you did understand the basic question, you would have noted that it asks for thoughtful introspection, not half witted nonsense. However, the fact that you care more about the price of materiel possessions than you do your own hypothetical son, speaks volumes about the kind of human being that you are.

Obviously it's you who failed to understand #76 cynical post

I agree - keep your bags packed. The hostility that YOU as an immigrant might meet in Israel, will surprise you. In fact, the lack of knowledge and the bureaucracy and the instisting of talking only Hebrew IS recentment. Many Israelis think of you as you think of praying Moslems in Italy. So wellcome! You seem rich enough to live in Raanana - I wasn't. So I left with my 4 children. My son, who currently is back in Israel and about to go to the Israeli army, told me that he will leave Israel when he has children, because he doesn't want his children to get the Israeli chutzpah. And mind you, he is raised in a Moroccan Israeli family! You'll soon know what I'm talking about.

After having checked on my Arab friends (Muslims, Christians and Druzes) ALL of them had their birth date written in Hebrew as well on their ID. There's no such thing as code since profiling is forbidden

Full of naive immigrants who look down upon anything that is not Jewish.

... Arabs (East Jerusalem & Israeli), Armenians and immigrants with only a Jewish father do NOT have the date of the Hebrew calendar on which they were born. However, they do have the Hebrew date on which the ID was printed. It is in this there may be confusion. If you're ID has your Hebrew birthdate (and not just date of issue) then the MOI considers you Jewish and a competant rabbinical court will probably as well (at the very least they won't consider you "Gentile enough"). It's not a "code," it's just something left over from when nationality was on the ID and through a loophole it did not have to be removed. [Although, "profiling": Don't be naive, some profiling is done, to sort people of certain origins (citizen born abroad, Arab or non-Arab, former USSR etc., but a conversion, a clarification, will maintain the original "code" and brake the profile, also certain cases of annonymous adoption have led to the reissuing of a new ID no. that could not carry the original "code" although the courts had to get involved.]

Maybe that those ID cards were issued years ago . Today , i think , no religion is mentionned anymore on ID's . And , i think that i have read it somewhere , today's ID cards carry the Hebrew birth date only for Jews . But not 100 % sure of this . Mine , issued more than 10 years ago , has יהודי and my Hebrew birth date printed . Profilling can be done with your ID number , reveals some facts . You were very fast to check the ID cards of your friends .

I'm confused because I have definitely checked my ID and my Arab friends' ID who all of them are Gentiles and we all have Hebrew birth date as well as gregorian as well as the Hebrew date when the ID was printed. After having checked on the net, the Internet also supports the idea that only Jews have their Hebrew birth date printed but it can't be that the ministry of interior has made a mistake on all of us.

You had all your friends at home ?

... Upon further reflection I've only seen IDs from Jerusalem and TA. I just encountered one from Haifa with "yehudi" written on it, but no Hebrew birthdate, and one from Ashkelon from someone ostensibly Jewish after nationality is not marked with no Hebrew date. Also, many Golani Druze and Haifa issued IDs for Gentiles have the Hebrew birthdate. Clearly something is in the mix, but people who pontificate absolute knowledge don't know the depth of the matter. If you weren't born here, though, I recommend you check to see if the ministry considers you Jewish, because they will admittedly tell you that the Hebrew birthdate is printed for Jews only. Best of luck to you.

... I've also checked my own, and Arabs (residents and citizens), an Armenian, a Christian Ukranian, and a friend from Brazil who's father is Jewish. Also a coworker from Columbia who's girlfriend was half Jewish and converted and now he's in the process of converting so they can marry: All but the girlfriend have the Hebrew birthdate. I have also spent enough time in the halls of the Interior Ministry and when they type in your ID number everything about you from birth (and even earlier) is a click away, including everything related to and/or about being Jewish. My husband is an immigrant and he was told to wait two days and then pick up his ID. He didn't understand why, but about a year later someone noticed that his Hebrew birthdate did not appear and reproached him, warning him that this omition could hurt him in the future, even if the MOI is updated. Apparrently he needed two days to get verification on his letter authorizing that he was Jewish. He called and they insisted that it does appear on his ID and that they're "looking at it right now." He told them he's "looking at it right now, and it doesn't" so he went in and they reprinted it. Are the Arab IDs you're looking at from when nationality is specified? Maybe they changed that. If you're nationality is not specified and your Hebrew birthdate appears you're probably Jewish by someone's account. Either way, let us know re: the Arabs - maybe the Hebrew date appeared as long as the nationality contrasted it. Waiting to hear back...