SEATTLE — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reaffirmed to North American Jews that he will protect the legal status in Israel of non-Orthodox conversions performed abroad.
That pledge prompted relief among many of the nearly 3,000 delegates gathered here for the annual General Assembly of the Council of Jewish Federations.
A proposed Israeli government bill denying the legitimacy of Conservative and Reform conversions generated heavy debate at G.A. panels and informally among delegates.
“The question of authority over who is a Jew is important to diaspora Jewry,” said Wayne Feinstein, executive vice president of the S.F.-based Jewish Community Federation.
The proposed Israeli legislation would be “tampering with how a large number of Jews will come to think of their identity as Jews,” Feinstein said.
While Netanyahu said the Israeli bill would not affect Jews who have been converted by Conservative and Reform rabbis abroad, he also said he would not fight current efforts to reinforce Orthodox authority over such conversions performed in Israel.
“We have Orthodox conversions in Israel. That won’t change,” he said. “We will not allow anyone to change the status quo.”
Netanyahu’s reference to the “status quo” confused people at the G.A., leading some to believe that he was vowing also to protect the conversion rights of the non-Orthodox in Israel.
“It is unclear to me what this means,” said Rabbi Lavey Derby of Conservative Congregation Kol Shofar in Tiburon. “At the very best, it means the prime minister will not allow changes in their conversion law as they take place in the diaspora.
“How he is going to do that with an ultra-Orthodox political force that continually refuses to accept the rulings of the Israeli High Court is quite beyond me,” Derby added.
“I personally took very little comfort in his statement.”
But Feinstein doesn’t believe Netanyahu’s promises hold much merit — regardless of which side he comes down on.
“On this subject, I don’t think the prime minister matters at the end of the day,” Feinstein said. “I think there are enough votes [in the Knesset] to pass” the bill that would formalize authority of the Orthodox-run Chief Rabbinate over all conversions in Israel.
A year ago, Israel’s Supreme Court said there was no legal reason why non-Orthodox conversions should not be recognized in Israel. However, the court did not explicitly recognize such conversions, saying that it would be up to the Knesset to pass the appropriate legislation.
Last week, the Knesset submitted legislation that would explicitly invalidate non-Orthodox conversions in Israel. Its impact on conversions performed abroad has been unclear.
The legislation was prompted by last year’s court ruling, which the Orthodox establishment viewed as a threat to its authority. Orthodox parties now in the governing coalition made support for such legislation a condition for their joining the coalition.
Meanwhile, the CJF Board of Delegates adopted a resolution that called on the Israeli government not to pass or alter any legislation that “would change the current situation regarding recognition of conversions.”
The vote was taken a day before the prime minister’s appearance via satellite. Netanyahu was scheduled to appear in person in Seattle, but canceled the trip because he believed that an agreement with the Palestinians was imminent on the redeployment of Israeli troops in Hebron.
The resolution pointedly did not differentiate between Reform and Conservative conversions performed inside Israel and those in the diaspora.
But the resolution did generate strong protest from some Orthodox quarters, which viewed it as inappropriate meddling in internal Israeli affairs.
Feinstein supported the resolution. However, he said that like opponents of the G.A. resolution, he “worries about worsening effects on Israel-diaspora relations,” and “is not certain we can have an effective say on this.”
Nonetheless, “the question of the status of a Jew in Israel seems to have an enormous emotional impact,” Feinstein said.
That’s because the Israeli bill delegitimizes non-Orthodox diaspora Jews “and their religious leaders. And as a result, [non-Orthodox diaspora Jews] will feel a gap, at least on an emotional level, between themselves and Israel.”
Derby added, “To accept [non-Orthodox] conversions in the diaspora but not in Israel is still a major slap in the face to non-Orthodox streams of Judaism.
“We are one family,” Derby said. “And our family in Israel needs to know the way they conduct their religious affairs is to many people an affront.”