JERUSALEM – The question of who is a Jew and not has always been a topic of debate in Israel. Since the establishment of the state, the government has largely postponed the Orthodox Jewish authorities, who do not consider converts to liberal forms of Judaism to be Jews.
But on Monday, the Israeli Supreme Court struck a symbolic blow to a more pluralistic view of Jewish identity: it granted the right to automatic citizenship to foreigners who converted to conservatism in the state of Israel, also known as Masorti, or Reform Judaism .
The ruling was largely symbolic, because according to the Israel Religious Action Center, the rights group that led to the obtaining of the court ruling, there were usually only 30 or 40 foreigners who converted to Reform or Masorti Judaism in Israel.
But the ruling leaves out some of the monopolistic Orthodox rabbis’ questions about religious identity that are central to frictions within Israeli society. It also raises a long debate about the relationship between Israel’s civil and religious authorities – and especially the role of the Supreme Court.
The Israeli right portrayed the court as a bastion of the country’s secular and liberal elite acting without democratic legitimacy. And although the court has delayed the ruling in this case for years, hoping that parliament would rather vote on it, the court’s critics had already made political capital out of the ruling on Monday night.
The party of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a regular antagonist of the Israeli courts facing corruption charges, quickly quoted the decision as a reason to vote for the party and “ensure a stable right-wing government that will restore the people’s sovereignty.”
Israel’s “Law of Return” gives Jews born abroad, or anyone with a Jewish parent, grandparent or spouse, the automatic right to claim Israeli citizenship. Those who converted to non-Orthodox Judaism in another country were able to obtain Israeli citizenship for decades.
Despite the small numbers associated with it, the court’s ruling was of great importance to the fighters and plaintiffs who first brought the case to the Supreme Court in 2005, and to the Orthodox authorities who opposed it.
“It’s a great feeling of relief, gratitude and satisfaction,” said Anat Hoffman, executive director of the Israel Religious Action Center. “This statement opens the door for Israel to have more than one way of being Jewish.”
One of Israel’s two chief rabbis, Yitzhak Yosef, calls it a ‘very deplorable decision’ and says that conversions to the Reformed and Conservative communities were ‘nothing but a falsified Judaism’.
“Public representatives should be expected to work quickly to rectify this legislation, 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 Israel’s secular and religious communities was an important feature of the pandemic and a source of debate in the election campaign, as well as the role of the Supreme Court.
“This is a big deal because there has been an impasse on this issue for 15 years,” said Ofer Zalzberg, director of the Middle East program at the Herbert C. Kelman Institute, a research group in Jerusalem. ‘And it’s just a month before an election, so it’s dramatically more politicized, and it’s affecting people in complicated places: who are we? What is our identity? And what are our freedoms? ”
Zalzberg said: “It has already caused a setback among a large constituency that rejects the court’s right to make decisions about what Jewish collective identity is about.”
There are still restrictions on the marriage of non-Orthodox converts to Judaism, as this area is controlled by Israel’s chief rabbinate, which does not recognize Reform or Conservative Judaism. There is no civil marriage in Israel.
But for non-Orthodox Jews, the Supreme Court ruling was a moment of qualified enlightenment – within Israel as well as in the diaspora.
“This confirms that Israel is a homeland for all Jews,” said Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal, the joint head of an international association of rabbis who practice conservative Judaism. “The ruling is an important step in guaranteeing religious freedom in Israel and recognizing the diversity of the Jewish people and its practices in Israel and around the world.”
Within Israel, the vast majority of Jews are Orthodox or secular, but liberal rabbis said there was already an increase in the number of non-Jews who wanted to convert to more liberal streams of Judaism.
Rabbi Gregory Kotler, a reform rabbi in Haifa, northern Israel, said he had received about 20 new requests within hours.
“I almost did not want to answer your call,” he said laughing, “because I thought it was another person asking for repentance.”
The Israel Religious Action Center emphasized that every new convert will undergo a rigorous conversion process that will last two or three years.
Orthodox critics “will claim to be Jewish-lite, they will say terrible things about our conversion,” Ms Hoffman said. ‘But it is not true. We demand that they become part of our communities. ”
Gabby Sobelman and Isabel Kershner reported from Jerusalem and Elizabeth Dias from Washington.