In the latest twist in the adoption scandal rocking Israel, it emerges that the disputed child, born to a Christian mother, was adopted by an Orthodox Jewish family -- against the law, which specifies that a child cannot be adopted by parents of another religion.
According to The Jerusalem Post, the adoption authorities always seek out Orthodox parents for Christian babies "in order to avoid problems converting him." Adds family law expert Dr. Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, converting the child is the way to enforce section 5 of the Adoption Law and should not be viewed as a means of bypassing the law.
It would be interesting to hear whether the adoption authorities have ever given -- or would ever consider giving -- a Jewish child to Christian parents they knew would baptize him (although this does not, in Jewish eyes, stop the child from being Jewish), to "enforce section 5 of the Adoption Law." I suspect not.
UPDATE: The Post has now updated its previous story and is now reporting that according to a 'senior official' in the Social Affairs Ministry, "In this specific case, the mother signed a consent order according to which she wants the child to be raised Jewish."
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