JERUSALEM – The question of who is and who is not a Jew has always been the subject of debate in Israel. Since the state was founded, the government has largely submitted to orthodox Jewish authorities, who do not consider Jews to be converted to more liberal forms of Judaism.
But on Monday, the Israeli Supreme Court struck a symbolic blow for a more pluralistic view of Jewish identity: it granted the right to automatic citizenship to foreigners who converted within the state of Israel to the conservative, also known as Masorti, or Reformed Judaism .
The decision was mostly symbolic because normally only 30 or 40 foreigners convert to Reformation or Masorti Judaism in Israel each year, according to the Israel Religious Action Center, the human rights group that led efforts to obtain the court’s decision.
But the decision does away with some of the monopolies that Orthodox rabbis have over issues of religious identity that are central to friction within Israeli society. It also ignites a long debate about the relationship between Israel’s civil and religious authorities – and particularly the role of the Supreme Court.
The Israeli right has portrayed 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, hoping that Parliament would vote, critics of the court were already profiting from Monday night’s decision.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s party, a regular Israeli court antagonist who is on trial on corruption charges, quickly quoted the decision as a reason to vote for the party and “guarantee a stable right-wing government that will restore sovereignty to the people”.
Israel’s “Law of Return” gives Jews born abroad, or anyone with Jewish parents, grandparents or spouses, the automatic right to claim Israeli citizenship. Those who convert to unorthodox Judaism in another country have been able to obtain Israeli citizenship for decades.
Despite the small numbers involved, the court’s decision had profound significance for the activists and plaintiffs who brought the case to the Supreme Court in 2005, and for the Orthodox authorities who opposed them.
“It is an overwhelming sense of relief, gratitude and gratification,” said Anat Hoffman, executive director of the Israel Religious Action Center. “This verdict really opens the door for Israel to have more than one way to be Jewish.”
One of Israel’s two chief rabbis, Yitzhak Yosef, called this “a deeply regrettable decision” and said that the conversions to the reform and conservative communities were “nothing but counterfeit Judaism”.
“Public officials are expected to work quickly to correct this legislation,” he said, “and the sooner they do, the better. ”
The news is particularly sensitive before next month’s general elections, Israel’s quarterfinals in two years. The battle between Israel’s secular and religious communities has been an important feature of the pandemic and a source of debate in the election campaign, as well as the role of the Supreme Court.
“It’s a big deal because there was an impasse on this issue 15 years ago,” said Ofer Zalzberg, director of the Middle East program at the Herbert C. Kelman Institute, a Jerusalem-based research group. “And it happens just a month before the elections, so it becomes dramatically more politicized and touches people in visceral places: who are we? What is our identity? And what are our freedoms? “
Zalzberg said: “This has already sparked a backlash among a large constituency that rejects the court’s right to make decisions about what Jewish collective identity is.”
There are still restrictions on the marriage of unorthodox converts to Judaism, as this area is controlled by Israel’s chief rabbinate, who does not recognize reform or conservative Judaism. There is no civil marriage in Israel.
But for non-Orthodox Jews, the Supreme Court decision was a time of qualified relief – both within Israel and among the diaspora.
“It claims that Israel is a homeland for all Jews,” said Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal, joint head of an international association of rabbis who practice conservative Judaism, the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. “The decision is an important step towards guaranteeing religious freedom in Israel and recognizing the diversity of the Jewish people and their practices in Israel and around the world.”
Within Israel, the overwhelming majority of Jews are orthodox or secular, but liberal rabbis said there was already an increase in the number of non-Jews seeking to convert to more liberal currents in Judaism.
Rabbi Gregory Kotler, a reformist rabbi in Haifa, northern Israel, said he received about 20 new orders in a matter of hours.
“I almost didn’t want to take your call,” he said with a laugh, “because I thought it was someone else asking for the conversion.”
The Israel Religious Action Center emphasized that each new convert candidate would undergo a rigorous conversion process that takes two or three years.
Orthodox critics “will claim that we are light Jews, they will say terrible things about our conversion,” said Ms. Hoffman. “But it is not true. We demand that they become part of our communities.”
Gabby Sobelman and Isabel Kershner contributed reports from Jerusalem and Elizabeth Dias from Washington.