The Israeli High Court came to a historic decision today, when it chose to recognize the conversions of 16 tourists and foreign residents who had undergone the process of conversion in Israel, but were actually converted by Reform or Conservative outside the country.
This still does not allow Reform or Conservative conversions in Israel -- the court left the issue to the Knesset -- but the direction of travel is clear. To all the Orthodox MKs who are blaming the courts for 'creating divisions in the nation,' I say this. The division is not the fault of the judges, but the fault of the Israeli Rabbanut, which had (has) a monopoly on conversions which it abused. Had it not made conversions so uneccesarily difficult and miserable for so many genuine people, it is likely they would never have reached this situation. Moreover, the writing has been on the wall for quite a few years now, and despite numerous pleas and warning signs, they were too arrogant and obstinate to change. The result you see today, and I can't see that there's any way back.
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