Masorti Olami

As part of the ongoing struggle against MK Rotem's Conversion Bill, the Masorti Movement in Israel, released the following statement :
 

July 19, 2010
To friends and supporters of the Masorti Movement,

Tensions between religion and politics in Israel escalated this past week.
Contrary to agreements made with the Prime Minister a few weeks ago, last Monday MK David Rotem surprisingly decided to call for a vote on the conversion bill which he promotes.  Rotem is an Israel Beiteinu  party member  and Chairperson of the Knesset Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee .  A very heated discussion took place in the committee at which Chairman of the Jewish Agency, Mr. Natan Sharansky, expressed  strong opposition towards the bill, noting  its implications for world Jewry and its relationship with Israel.  Nevertheless, the proposed voted was passed by a count of 5 to 4  despite  Kadima and Labour’s  votes against it. Two Israel Beiteinu MKs and others from orthodox parties cast the winning votes.  The big question now is if the will be brought to the vote before Thursday of this week when the Knesset’s summer recess begins.  

Rotem’s proposal is a bad one. Presented as a way to facilitate conversion by allowing municipal rabbis to carry out conversions, the proposed law reinforces the monopoly held by the  Orthodox and Haredi  streams on conversion in Israel.  Also, for the first time in Israel’s legal history, it discriminates between Jews born to a Jewish mother and those who converted. The bill also implicitly excludes, or at least raises the possibility of exclusion, of Conservative and Reform conversions that took place in Israel and, likely, abroad.  Despite Rotem’s claims to the contrary, the bill gives a message that Jews who are not Orthodox do not have a place in Israel. Should this bill pass, the Jewish State would, be largely disconnecting itself from the Jewish world.

Considering Israel’s centrality and meaning for Am Yisrael we have been hard at work with our colleagues from the Reform Movement and our leadership abroad, applying  pressure in order to stop this legislation. The opposition Kadima party and the Labour party agree that this law is bad for the Jews. Even some Likud members, particularly Ministers Benny Begin and Yuli Edelstein, are part of our struggle. We have heard informally that the Prime Minister’s Office received more than 50,000 emails where we know that at least 20,000 were sent through our Masorti Foundation website.

Yesterday, finally,   the following statement was made:

Statement by the Office of the Prime Minister
“In the weekly cabinet meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he will oppose the proposed conversion bill as it could cause a split within the Jewish people. The Prime Minister said he will try to reach an agreement to have the proposed bill removed from the Knesset's agenda, but if that endeavor proves unsuccessful, then he will call upon the Likud faction and the factions of the other coalition partners to oppose the bill.”

As encouraging as this news is, the battle has not yet been won.  MK Rotem and his party leader Avigdor Leiberman seem to be intent on pushing the bill through.

Please continue your efforts and ask others to join . Send an email to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu via our online form at http://www.masorti.org/email/form-letter.html or contact your local Israeli Ambassador. You CAN make a difference.

In the name of democracy, Zionism and the future of Am Yisrael we thank you,

Emily Levy-Shochat            Yizhar Hess
Chairperson                            Executive Director
Masorti Movement in Israel
 
Below, you can download this letter in English and Hebrew pdf form, and the letter sent to President Shimon Peres.