JERUSALEM – The question of who is Jewish and who is not has always been the subject of debate in Israel. Since the state’s inception, the government has largely turned to the Orthodox Jewish authorities, who do not consider converts to more liberal forms of Judaism to be Jewish.
But on Monday the Israeli Supreme Court struck a symbolic blow for a more pluralistic vision of Jewish identity: it granted foreigners converted to conservative, also known as Masorti or Reform Judaism, rights to automatic citizenship within the State of Israel.
The decision was mostly symbolic, as typically only 30 or 40 foreigners in Israel convert to Reform or Masorti Judaism each year, according to the Israel Religious Action Center, the rights group that led efforts to obtain the court verdict.
But the ruling has disregarded some of the monopoly Orthodox rabbis over issues of religious identity that are central to frictions in Israeli society. It also ignites a long-running debate about the relationship between the civil and religious authorities of Israel – and particularly the role of the Supreme Court.
Israeli law has presented the court as a bastion of the country’s secular and liberal elite, acting without democratic legitimacy. And although the court delayed the decision in this case for years in the hopes that parliament would vote on it instead, the court’s critics made political capital out of the decision as early as Monday evening.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s party, a regular opponent of the Israeli courts on charges of corruption, quickly cited the decision as a reason to vote for the party and “ensure a stable right-wing government that will restore the sovereignty of the people.” . “
Israel’s “Law of Return” gives foreign-born Jews or anyone with Jewish parents, grandparents, or spouses the automatic right to claim Israeli citizenship. Those who convert to non-Orthodox Judaism in another country have been able to obtain Israeli citizenship for decades.
Despite the small number, the court’s decision made a big difference to the activists and plaintiffs who first brought the case to the Supreme Court in 2005 and to the Orthodox authorities who opposed them.
“It’s a tremendous sense of relief, gratitude and satisfaction,” said Anat Hoffman, the executive director of the Israel Religious Action Center. “This judgment really opens the gates for Israel to have more than one way to be Jewish.”
One of Israel’s two chief rabbis, Yitzhak Yosef, called it a “deeply regrettable decision” and said conversions to reform and conservative communities were “nothing but fake Judaism”.
“Public officials are expected to work quickly to correct this legislation,” he said, “and the sooner they do so, the better.”
The news is particularly sensitive ahead of next month’s general election, Israel’s fourth in two years. The struggle between the secular and religious communities of Israel was a key feature of the pandemic and a source of debate in the election campaign, as was the role of the Supreme Court.
“It’s a big deal because there has been a dead end on this matter for 15 years,” said Ofer Zalzberg, director of the Middle East program at the Herbert C. Kelman Institute, a Jerusalem-based research group. “And it comes just a month before an election, so it’s dramatically politicized and touches people in visceral places: Who are we? What is our identity And what are our freedoms? “
Mr. Zalzberg said: “This has already sparked a backlash in a large constituency that denies the court’s right to make decisions about what the Jewish collective identity is about.”
There are still restrictions on the marriage of non-Orthodox converts to Judaism as this area is controlled by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, which does not recognize Reformed or Conservative Judaism. There is no civil marriage in Israel.
For non-Orthodox Jews, however, the Supreme Court decision was a moment of qualified relief – both within Israel and within the Diaspora.
“It affirms that Israel is a home for all Jews,” said Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal, the joint head of an international association of rabbis practicing Conservative Judaism, the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. “The ruling is an important step in ensuring freedom of religion in Israel and recognizing the diversity of the Jewish people and practices in Israel and around the world.”
Within Israel, the vast majority of Jews are either Orthodox or secular, but liberal rabbis said the number of non-Jews seeking conversion to more liberal currents of Judaism had already increased.
Rabbi Gregory Kotler, a reformist rabbi in Haifa, northern Israel, said he had received around 20 new inquiries in a matter of hours.
“I almost didn’t want to answer your call,” he said with a laugh, “because I thought it was someone else asking for conversion.”
The Israel Religious Action Center stressed that any new potential convert would go through a rigorous conversion process that would take two or three years.
Orthodox critics “will say we are Jewish lite, they will say terrible things about our conversion,” said Ms. Hoffman. “But it’s not true. We demand that they become part of our communities. “
Gabby Sobelman and Isabel Kershner reported from Jerusalem and Elizabeth Dias from Washington.
