The Jewish People
Secular Conversion:
From Yossi Beilin's book, His Brother's Keeper:
It is simply unimaginable that in the 21st Century, a time in which most of world Jewry is not religious, we should continue to grant certain religious establishments the right to define "who is a Jew". While it is true that significant differences between the streams of Judaism exist, it is also true that all of them retain an exclusive character. All are cautious regarding their number of conversions and all insist that the transition into the Jewish people be done through a process that is solely religious.
About Birthright:
In the General Assembly of Jewish Federations in 1994, Yossi Beilin had his action plan for a free vouchers program distributed. The program offers every young Jew a right to visit Israel with this opportunity funded by the Jewish People. This right is not dependent on the economic status of the youngster, or on his or her linkage to a Jewish community, or to the question of whether he or she had visited Israel before or not. This way, hopes Beilin, we can strengthen the Jewish identity of many Jews and uphold Jewish continuity.
The Question of the Jewish People:
Yossi Beilin, from a speech delivered in September 1994:
I think that the major reason why the world's Jewry did not come to live in Israel, and kept generations of Zionist Jews from making Aliyah, was the fact that Israeli institutions always presented Israel as a third world country, a country that needs support, that has economic and social problems.
We allowed this misleading image of Israel and this exaggeration regarding its security and economic difficulties to be created only for guaranteeing the cash flow between World Jewry and Israel.