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Ultra-Orthodox Hayat brothers practice Capoeira, a Brazilian martial art that combines elements of dance, acrobatics and music, in the Western Wall in Jerusalem s Old City. (Nati Shohat /FLASH90)
1. Symbolic bombshell: A High Court ruling that people who convert to Judaism in Israel through the Reform and Conservative movements must be recognized as Jews for the purpose of obtaining citizenship through the Law of Return is regarded as a major bombshell Monday, upending years during which Israel’s Interior Ministry refused to take such a step.
The deal is predictably celebrated by the non-Orthodox and deplored by the ultra-Orthodox, and is also thrust almost immediately into the political sphere, coming a few weeks before Israel goes back to the polls. With Conservative and Reform Jews making up just a tiny slice of Israel, most news reports focus not on the historicity of the ruling, but the fight surrounding it.