The application, turned down by the Interior Ministry, was viewed as a test case for a landmark court ruling recognizing conversions performed in Israel by non-Orthodox movements
Yoaz Hendel took fire at Rabbi David Lau, who in protest of the government's proposed conversion reform, said he would withhold Jewish status from converts
The government wants to encourage more Israelis who aren’t officially recognized as Jews to convert, but will its new legislation actually achieve that? Some experts question its chances of success
The government wants to encourage more Israelis who aren’t officially recognized as Jews to convert, but will its new legislation actually achieve that? Some experts question its chances of success
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Apr. 29, 2021 1:22 PM
A lawyer representing the Interior Ministry disclosed in a court hearing in Jerusalem last week that decisionmakers regularly defer to the Chief Rabbinate, a rigidly Orthodox institution, when considering immigration applications submitted by converts. The Rabbinate is not supposed to be involved in determining whether converts to Judaism are eligible for aliyah.
Indeed, according to the Law of Return, any individual who has undergone conversion – whether Orthodox or not – can immigrate to Israel and receive automatic citizenship, provided that the conversion process took place in a “recognized Jewish community” and certain basic criteria were fulfilled. It is the Jewish Agency that in meant to determine whether these requirements have been fulfilled and presents its recommendation to the Interior Ministry for final approval. Nowhere in the Law of Return does it say that the Rabbinate has an