Rejected by Process, Loyal by Conviction

Loving Israel Without Conditions

When I first explored the possibility of making Aliyah, I didn’t just encounter Israeli bureaucracy, I encountered the true nature of human beings. In general. And Israelis in particular.

People often tell me I am strict. Principled. They are right. For me, many things in life are black or white. There is no comfortable middle ground. Love, for example, you either love with your whole heart, or you don’t love at all.
That is exactly how I love Israel: fully, honestly, and without conditions.

I have written before that I cannot directly prove my Jewish roots, even though the indirect evidence is strong. I am also not religious, yet Judaism is the only faith I have ever truly connected with, intellectually and emotionally. It makes sense to me. It feels like home.

My parents voluntarily did important intelligence work for Israel. I dedicated my own life to advocating for Israel, publicly, unapologetically, and at great personal cost. Friendships were lost. Doors were closed. I was attacked, dismissed, and marginalized. And yet, I never stopped. Because love that is real does not calculate convenience.

I believed, perhaps naïvely, that these exceptional circumstances might allow some human discretion when I applied for Aliyah. What I met instead was silence.

Bureaucracy from the Jewish Agency.
Indifference from the Office of the President.
No response from Netanyahu’s office.
No guidance from Yad Olim or Dov Lipman.
Letter after letter. Email after email. Nothing.

And then came the advice, quietly, from a few rabbis and individuals:

“You should convert. Do giyur.”

I told them honestly: I do not want to convert for the wrong reasons. Conversion should never be a technical solution or a political shortcut. I refuse to fake faith to satisfy a system. Still, I was told: it’s a choice.

That was the moment I understood, again, why I do not believe in religion as an institution. Rabbis, imams, pastors: they are all human. And humans, when convenient, bend rules they claim are eternal.

Yes, Judaism is, by far, the most logical religion I know. But if I ever choose that spiritual path, I will do it in Israel, out of truth, not necessity.

Ironically, many people urged me to convert without understanding what Judaism itself teaches:
Judaism does not seek converts.
It does not promise rewards.
It does not lower the bar.

Becoming Jewish is intentionally difficult. It is not about belief alone, it is about joining a people, a covenant, a history soaked in responsibility and risk. That seriousness is something I deeply respect. It is one of the reasons I admire Judaism so profoundly.

And yet, here I stand, loving Israel, defending Israel, choosing Israel, without a checkbox that satisfies a system.

I am not asking for favors.
I am not asking for shortcuts.
I am asking for one thing only: honest human recognition of honest intentions.

I still believe that somewhere in Israel, I will meet a person as principled as I am.
Someone who understands that loyalty is not always written in documents.
That identity is not always provable on paper.
And that love, real love, needs no disguise.

Until then, I remain exactly who I am:
Unconditional. Uncomfortable. And unwaveringly pro-Israel.

">https://youtu.be/SuFScoO4tb0?si=HkE2mKq-M6vXq3Br