Government committee okays bill to expand number of rabbis conducting Orthodox conversions; was opposed by Netanyahu and new-old allies the Haredi parties.
A pact between Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Finance Minister Yair Lapid has dealt Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu his first political defeat of the new parliament session, with the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee approving a bill on Jewish conversion for its second and third reading in the Knesset.
Political maneuvers: Netanyahu, Bennett, Lapid, Lieberman and Livni (Photos: Gil Yohanan, Shahar Azran, EPA, AP and GPO)
“Netanyahu’s deal with the Haredim failed,” said sources from Bayit Yehudi, the rightist religious party also opposed to the bill.
The legislation aims to facilitate Orthodox conversions in Israel, allowing rabbis from cities to convert, expanding the authority from the few dozen clerics who hold it today.
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Even as Netanyahu himself blocked the Livni-led government proposal due to his recent rapprochement with the ultra-Orthodox parties and his promise to them, his coalition partners took a different route to ensure its passage, presenting it as a private bill. Bayit Yehudi and the ultra-Orthodox factions in opposition formed a united front against the bill, but to no avail.
Coalition parties Yisrael Beiteinu, Hatnua and Yesh Atid, along with the opposition Labor, believe the proposal to be of great significance, and have formulated a strategy to get the bill passed, despite Netanyahu’s stance.
That municipal orthodox rabbis will have the legal right to grant conversions. So if certain Rabbis have a reputation for being belligerent to people wanting to convert they will end up being ignored and Rabbis who treat people with dignity will be sought out. Provide it passes the three readings required by law.
So what does that really mean.
What is the practical significance of this?