High Court: Israel must recognize Reform conversions

Israel's High Court of Justice has unexpectedly ruled that the state must recognize the Jewish conversions performed in Israel by the Reform and Conservative movements for the purposes of the Law of Return. The High Court of Justice has been procrastinating over ruling for 15 years, while urging the Knesset to legislate on the matter. Over the past two years the court has not ruled because of the repeated Knesset elections and it had been expected to again postpone the ruling until after the elections later this month.

A panel of nine justices headed by Court President Esther Hayut handed down the ruling by eight votes to one. Justice Noam Sohlberg, the dissenting voice, said that he agreed with the legal reasoning of the ruling but that the court should have waited until 12 months after the formation of the new government before making its decision.

The ruling was welcomed by Avigdor Liberman and his Israel Beitenu party but furiously condemned by Shas and United Torah Judaism who are likely to make legislation on the matter a precondition for entering any coalition after the election. Gideon Saar said that the ruling reflected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's inability to make a decision on the matter for more than a decade.

Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on March 1, 2021

High Court: Israel must recognize Reform conversions

Israel's High Court of Justice has ruled that the state must recognize conversions performed in Israel by the Reform and Conservative movements for the Law of Return.