``For Netanyahu's demand to make any sense, he first has to define "Jewish." "Jewish" has a number of possible meanings. It can mean "those recognized by Talmudic law as members of the Jewish 'race' via maternal descent." The latter is the legal definition of Jewishness in Israeli law itself, and for this reason we must presume that it is what Netanyahu has in mind. It can also mean "adherents of the Judaic religion," and we can explore those implications, as well. Of the some 6 million self-identified Jews in Israel, about 300,000 are not recognized as "Jewish" by the Chief Rabbi and there is no prospect of them being recognized as Jewish any time soon. They were allowed to immigrate to Israel because they had at least one Jewish grandparent, but if their mother was not Jewish neither are they. ''
Cole is worth the quick read in order to see why this is a non-starter demand.
CG