|
LAPID: BIAS AGAINST NON-ORTHODOX THREATENS STATE
by Etgar Lefkovits
Jerusalem Post, Feb. 11, 2004
The discrimination against Conservative and Reform rabbis in Israel is a threat to the future of the Jewish state, Justice Minister Yosef Lapid said Tuesday night.
"Israel is the only country in the world where Conservative and Reform rabbis are 'Class B' citizens," Lapid told the Conservative Movement's Rabbinical Assembly in Jerusalem, "and I don't understand why you are willing to live with it."
In a typically frank address, Lapid, who heads the staunchly secular Shinui Party, said he sees "no justification" for the fact that Conservative and Reform rabbis are discriminated against in Israel, where the Orthodox have dominated religious affairs since the creation of the state, at a time when the bulk of world Jewry is affiliated with the Reform or Conservative Movements.
"The discrimination in Israel against the Conservative and Reform movements poses a long-term danger to the existence of the State of Israel," Lapid said, arguing that the next generation of American Jewry will be less inclined to have a favorable opinion of a Jewish state that does not recognize their own religious leaders.
Urging the relatively small number of Conservative and Reform rabbis based in Israel to take a more assertive and aggressive approach to attain equal rights in the country, Lapid, who is known for his outspoken opposition to the haredim, asserted that Judaism must be "saved" from the Orthodox.
"The young generation in Israel sees [Shas spiritual leader] Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, sees [former Shas leader] Arieh Deri, and they do not want to be a part of such Judaism," Lapid said. "These people give Judaism a bad name, and you must explain that Judaism is something else."
|
