Proposed changes to the Law of Return, agreed upon by coalition partners, will particularly target non-affiliated Israelis.
According to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), there are some half a million citizens who do not define themselves as members of any of the major faiths. CBS said most of this population, which has grown in the past years, comes from immigrants arriving from the former Soviet Republics.
The new Israeli government has indicated it would introduce a change to the 1950 law to remove from those eligible for citizenship the grandchildren of Jews.
The initiative had been criticized by many in Israel and Jewish and Zionist leaders around the world.
In a recent letter sent by the heads of seven Jewish and Zionist organizations, leaders warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that any change to the law may cause a rift with the Jewish diaspora.
CBS said most of this population, which has grown in the past years, comes from immigrants arriving from the former Soviet Republics.
Israel began identifying "others," who were not affiliated with the Jewish, Christian or Muslim faiths in 1995, who at the time numbered 85,000. They are now believed to have grown six-fold.
Many are the children of immigrants and Israelis in all aspects who were in the country legally and according to the Law of Return. As such they are subject to the rights as well as duties of all citizens including compulsory military service.
They are, however, not recognized as Jews according to the religious establishment and are unable to marry, since there is no civil marriage in Israel.
They can also not be buried in Jewish cemeteries and are perhaps most offended by the fact that they are not considered a part of the Jewish collective.
Successive Israeli government attempted to facilitate conversions for those wishing to become Jewish, but those efforts have resulted in little change.
The current coalition had decided to prevent any more such immigrants, who are either married to Jews or are a third generation removed from Jewish family members, by changing the law.
But despite declaring a commission would be established to present recommendations, one had not yet been appointed.