Ultra-Orthodox Jews celebrate Sunday during the Jewish holiday of Purim in the Mea Shearim, an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
JERUSALEM (AFP) Israeli religious leaders, including key election allies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, criticized Tuesday a supreme court decision ending an Orthodox monopoly on Jewish conversions.
Late Monday, the court ruled that people whose conversion to Judaism in Israel was overseen by a reform or conservative rabbi must be considered Jewish and therefore entitled to Israeli citizenship.
Previously, the Jewish state only recognized conservative and reform conversions that took place outside Israel.
Within the country, the stricter Orthodox movements had to sanction conversions for them to be considered legitimate.
Conversion libérale: Le Shas soumet une loi à la Knesset pour contredire la Cour timesofisrael.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from timesofisrael.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Judges say converts through non-Orthodox denominations in Israel must be considered Jews for citizenship purposes; chief rabbis fume; Orthodox parties vow law to overturn ruling
Israel s high court says non-Orthodox converts are Jews mynorthwest.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mynorthwest.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
High Court recognizes non-Orthodox converts as Jewish ynetnews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from ynetnews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.