I have heard Palestinian leaders cite the immigration from Russia—with its large numbers of intermarried couples—as proof of the inauthentic nature of Jewish nationhood. From a Zionist perspective, though, none of our waves of immigration is more or less “authentic.” Traditional Jews from Iraq and Yemen, assimilated Jews from the former Soviet Union: All are indigenous sons and daughters returning home.
Halakha says, if your lineage is proved, you are a Jew.
