The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has welcomed the decision by Israel’s cabinet to adopt a law reforming the process for Jewish conversion in Israel as ‘’an important step forward for Israeli society and Jewish inclusivity.’’
The new law is designed to ease the Jewish conversion process for tens of thousands of Israeli citizens but Israel’s Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef said the Chief Rabbinate would not accept it and that he would convene a meeting of the Council of the Chief Rabbinate to discuss how it would deal with the situation.
The approval of the government order was hailed by proponents as a significant breakthrough in efforts to increase conversion rates among non-Jewish Israeli citizens who immigrated to Israel from the former Soviet Union under the Law of Return.
The law, which was approved on Sunday, expands the number and geographic location of conversion courts and allows them to be convened by state-employed municipal Orthodox rabbis. This could effectively increase the number of total conversion courts in Israel from the current four to as many as 34.
The government order itself was proposed by Hatnua chairwoman and Justice Minister Tzipi Livni along with Bayit Yehudi party chairman and Religious Services Minister Naftali Bennett, and was approved by the cabinet, with only Bayit Yehudi’s Construction and Housing Minister Uri Ariel voting against it.
According to ADL, “this an important step forward for Israeli society and Jewish inclusivity,” noting however that additional steps are still needed to more fully address challenges relating to Israel’s conversion laws which do not recognize conversions in a large segment of the Jewish people.
Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. Said : ‘’Tens of thousands of Israeli citizens, many of whom hail from the former Soviet Union and have been born or lived in Israel for many years, including some who served in the Israel Defense Forces, will now encounter a Jewish conversion process that is hopefully less cumbersome and obstructionist,’’