Government nearly falls over conversion spat, then cuts off nose to spite face
A Bayit Yehudi spokesman explained that the party's MKs walked out on Bennett's instructions, after a new article was added to the controversial conversion bill without the party's prior knowledge.
"The Bayit Yehudi never learned coalition discipline or commitment to agreements," Levin said following the walkout. "I will not give in to extortion."
On Tuesday, a fierce political fight broke out between Bayit Yehudi and its coalition partners over the bill on reforming the conversion process, authored by MK Elazar Stern of Hatnua.
The bill proposes to allow chief municipal rabbis to establish a rabbinical conversion court in conjunction with one of the centrally appointed rabbinical conversion judges and any other rabbi ordained by the Chief Rabbinate.
A senior Bayit Yehudi source said on Tuesday that “if [ Justice Minister Tzipi] Livni was promised that her party’s conversion bill would pass in exchange for voting for the three major bills [ultra-Orthodox conscription, electoral reform and referendum on land concessions], then that was an unfounded promise. We’re sorry someone made a promise to her, but it’s not our problem.”
The source added that party will vote against the coalition if the Stern conversion bill goes to the plenum.
“A conversion bill will not pass without the support of the Religious Services Ministry,” the source said.Which paragraph in this bill did the Jewish Home party not know about?
Labels: Chief Rabbinate, Elazar Stern, Jewish converts, Jewish Home party, Jewish law, Naftali Bennett, Tzipi Livni
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 4:32 PM
2 Comments:
Why exactly does the government have its filthy hands in the business of converting Jews? This should be done solely by rabbis who have received not a penny of compensation from the government (as it is done in the USA).
In other words, I believe the American system of separation of synagogue/church/mosque from state is the best system for every country on earth, including both Israel and all Islamic states.
When you lack such separation you inherently corrupt BOTH the synagogue and the state.
It is good for Judaism and makes Israel a MORE Jewish state to cease and desist paying salaries to rabbis.
To this extent I do not support Livni's bill to expand conversions as I do not support softening the effects of the rabbinate. I support abolishing this completely.
Red, because Israel is a Jewish state.
Asked and answered.
And if you don't like that, you can drink the waters of the Hudson. :)
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