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COURT DEFERS RULING ON
NON-ORTHODOX CONVERSIONS IN ISRAEL
by Yuval Yoaz
Ha'aretz, May 31, 2004
The High Court of Justice on Monday ruled that the Law of Return applies to those who decide to convert to Judaism while already living in Israel. However, the court deferred ruling on whether to recognize non-Orthodox conversions conducted in Israel, ordering the state to present its position on this questions within 45 days.
The court's ruling rejects the position adopted by the Interior Ministry last year, which stipulated that those who convert to Judaism in Israel - regardless if the conversion was conducted under Orthodox or non-Orthodox auspices - are ineligible for citizenship rights under the Law of Return.
The ruling means that the term "aliya" does not only refer to the physical act of a Jewish person moving his place of residence to Israel, but also to the decision to join the Jewish faith, even after having resided in the country.
The 11-justice panel concluded five years of deliberations with seven in favor and four opposed to the decision.
The Israel Religious Action Center represented the 15 petitioners, who studied for conversion in Israel, but underwent Reform or Conservative conversion abroad because non-Orthodox conversions are not recognized in Israel.
Nicole Maor, the lawyer for the petitioners, said the decision was a boost for the non-Orthodox streams of Judaism. "We hope that today the excuses are finished and that in 45 days, the Interior Ministry will rule that it recognizes non-Orthodox conversions in Israel," she said.
The center had hoped that the ruling would invalidate the present policy of the Interior Ministry that refuses to recognize conversions carried out in Israel that are not recognized by the Chief Rabbinate. The state sees conversions abroad for people living in Israel as essentially the same as unrecognized conversions in Israel.
About six months ago, Interior Minister Avraham Poraz announced his opposition to his ministry's policy because it discriminates between different types of conversion. However, the attorney general at the time, Elyakim Rubinstein, said the minister was bound in this matter by government decision.
In 1989, the High Court of Justice ruled that no discrimination may be made between different kinds of conversion for the purpose of receiving new immigrants' rights under the Law of Return. In 2002, the High Court ruled that no discrimination may be made between types of conversions carried out in Israel when registering "Nationality" in identity cards.
The court has so far avoided expanding this prohibition against discrimination to the question of new immigrant or permanent resident rights. Any such expansion can be expected to draw a harsh reaction from religious and ultra-Orthodox parties that do not recognize non-Orthodox conversions.
In 1995, the religious parties, concerned that the High Court would eventually recognize non-Orthodox conversions in Israel, initiated a law circumventing the High Court, but the government froze the legislation due to a public outcry over the law.
Two years later, in 1997, the government decided to adopt some of the recommendations of the Neeman Committee, which sought to further institutionalize the Orthodox monopoly on the process of conversion.
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