Participants in Birthright and Masa trips to Israel from the Diaspora may soon be able to extend their visit for up to six months and avoid the bureaucracy of proving their eligibility for the right of return following a decision by the government this week.

A significant number of participants in such trips, a large proportion of whom are not affiliated with a Jewish community and have never visited Israel before, try to lengthen their stays in Israel after their tours are finished but face bureaucratic difficulties posed by the Interior Ministry.

When signing up to join a Birthright trips and Masa programs, participants are in most cases not required to provide documentary evidence of their Jewish identity. But if they wish to extend their visas for a significantly longer period, the Interior Ministry asks tour participants to provide documentary proof that they are indeed Jewish, such as a letter from a community rabbi, the marriage certificate of their parents or similar documents.

This often causes undue difficulties for such visitors and exposes them to inconvenient bureaucracy at ministry branches, in a process that can make them feel that the State of Israel rejects their Jewish identity, precisely after a tour that is designed to strengthen their affiliation.

Many subsequently have to leave Israel without extending their trip after failing to obtain the documentation in time.

On Sunday a bill proposed by MK Nahman Shai (Zionist Union) to deal with the issue was scheduled to be brought before the Ministerial Committee for Legislation. A vote on the bill itself was postponed but the government subsequently promised Shai that a the issue would be dealt with administratively via the Interior Ministry instead of legislatively.

Shai, who has been working to resolve the problem for several years, says that he would be satisfied if the problem was dealt with in this way but expressed concern that such promises had been made in the past and were not implemented.

The MK said however that Absorption Minister Ze’ev Elkin told him that within two weeks either Shai’s law would be approved for passage to the Knesset or the requisite administrative order would be issued by the Interior Minister, currently Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has taken on the role temporarily since the recent resignation of former minister Silvan Shalom.

“The purpose of these programs is to encourage people to come and see what life is like living here in Israel and if there is even a small group among them who want to try and see what its like living here for a longer period then we should encourage them to do so, and work if possible, something which is not available at the moment,” Shai told The Jerusalem Post.

“We need to remove every obstacle preventing participants in these trips from staying longer. The government spends tens of millions of dollars on these programs and so it, along with the prime minister, should be very interested in dealing with the issue.”

The ITIM religious services advisory and lobbying group which has also worked to solve this problem and fielded requests for help from Birthright and Masa participants seeking to extend their stay, welcomed the progress.

ITIM director Rabbi Seth Farber said he was “gratified that the government has assumed responsibility for encouraging young Jewish students to connect to Israel further, following their Birthright or Masa trip.”

Farber said that ITIM would “monitor” the government’s progress to ensure that the required changes are made.

“ITIM hopes that this more positive attitude to Diaspora Jewry demonstrated in this area will be adopted by other government agencies, particularly the religious establishment,” he added.

By JEREMY SHARON