After years in limbo, court lets Syrian convert live in Israel with husband, a disabled vet
In an unusual case, the Jerusalem District Court on Tuesday ordered the Interior Ministry to grant temporary Israeli status to a Syrian-born woman, the wife of a disabled IDF veteran, who converted to Judaism.
The judge, Nimrod Flax, accepted the couple’s petition, ruling that the ministry’s rejection of their request to live in the Jewish state was “unreasonable in the extreme.”
Flax cited the medical and mental state of the husband, Yair (a pseudonym requested for the couple’s safety), the conversion of wife Nur (also a pseudonym) to Judaism, the fact that she had severed ties with Syria and could not safely return there, and the lack of any other country where they could live together.
He granted her temporary residence in Israel for a year, with the possibility of extension.
The petition was submitted by their lawyer, Adi Lustigman, after the Interior Ministry repeatedly denied a request to give Nur Israeli status on humanitarian grounds. The ministry argued that marriage alone did not constitute a “special humanitarian reason” under the Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law, which restricts status for citizens of enemy states like Syria.
After the judgment, the couple told Lustigman that they were too overwhelmed to speak to the media.
Several details of their story came to light during an interview they gave this month to the Kan broadcasting station. Nur, a member of the Alawite minority, left Syria during the civil war to study overseas, while Yair visited Europe during his post-military service trip. The two met in the same country through the Tinder dating app.
“When we met, there was a crazy connection between us, a very great love,” Yair told Kan. “We made a commitment to each other, and after four months, we decided to get married.”
Nur said, “When I met Yair, and afterward, when I fell in love with him, I wanted to know more about him, I wanted to learn about the language, the culture, his background, and also the religion.”
On her decision to convert, she said, “I wanted my official religion to........
