Serge Attai/Flash90/JTA
But for most Israelis, changes at the Western Wall are of only
trivial interest. Far more pressing are state restrictions on marriage and
conversion, Sabbath bans on public transit, and haredi Orthodox exemptions from
Israel’s mandatory draft.
The haredi draft exemption was a central issue in January’s
elections for the Knesset, and it has been a hot topic of debate for the last
year or so. A comprehensive bill is now in the works to draft haredi men,
providing financial incentives to those who enlist and penalizing those who
don’t.
A few political parties—notably the large, centrist Yesh
Atid—have promised reforms on marriage, conversion and public transportation,
too. But with the government’s coalition agreement giving each party veto power
over any change in the state’s religious policy, sweeping changes on marriage
and conversion are unlikely because the nationalist Jewish Home party is
unlikely to approve such reforms.
The Orthodox-dominated Chief Rabbinate nearly has a monopoly
over marriage and conversion in Israel. Non-Orthodoxwedding ceremonies,
interfaith marriages and same-sex marriages are not recognized in Israel unless
such couples wed and obtain a valid marriage certificate overseas.
When it comes to conversion in Israel, there is only one kind:
Orthodox. Non-Orthodox converts to Judaism from overseas may be granted
citizenship under Israel’s Law of Return, but the Rabbinate can prevent them
from marrying, divorcing or being buried as Jews once they are in
Israel.
Perhaps a milder issue by comparison, many secular Israelis
chafe against Sabbath-day limitations on public transit and commerce. While not
entirely banned on Saturdays, they are subject to severely restrictive
laws.
There have been some reforms in all three areas in recent
years.
In 2010, the Yisrael Beiteinu party, which draws from a
secular Russian immigrant support base, led a push for civil marriage. In a
compromise, the watered-down bill passed by the Knesset legalized civil unions
only for couples with no religious faith, not for Jews or interfaith
couples.
Yesh Atid hopes to use that law as a template for allowing
civil unions for any Israeli.
“We plan to work together on these issues,” Yesh Atid Knesset
member Dov Lipman, an American-born rabbi, told JTA. “There’s already been
significant discussion with all of the religious bodies on compromising on these
issues. I do believe we can make significant changes.”
But Yesh Atid’s coalition partner, Jewish Home, reportedly
opposes expanding civil unions. Instead, Deputy Religious Services Minister Eli
Ben Dahan is proposing measures to streamline the Orthodox marriage process—for
example, allowing couples to marry with the Orthodox rabbi of their
choosing.
By some measures, the conversion issue has been
thornier.
In 2010, a Yisrael Beiteinu Knesset member, David Rotem,
proposed a bill meant to give would-be converts more leeway in choosing where
and how to convert in Israel. But the bill also would have consolidated control
over conversions under the office of the Rabbinate, further weakening Reform and
Conservative conversions.
Following an outcry from Jewish leaders in the United States,
the bill was shelved. Sharansky was tasked with finding a solution to the
dispute, but nothing has materialized. In the meantime, Israel’s Supreme Court
was subject to a freeze on hearing any cases relating to
conversion.
The high court freeze expires at the end of
April.
“Who is a Jew is an issue that will come back,” predicted Uri
Regev, a Reform rabbi and chairman of Hiddush, an Israeli nonprofit that
advocates for religious pluralism. “The courts making it a headline issue will
happen within a few months.”
Public transit may be the issue most conducive to compromise
because it does not involve questions of Jewish identity or
continuity.
An illustration of Natan Sharansky’s proposal, which will expand
the Western Wall and create a permanent egalitarian space in the Robinson’s Arch
area.
Public buses long have run on Shabbat in Haifa, Israel’s
third-largest city, and private shared taxis run in Tel Aviv on the Sabbath.
Lipman said Yesh Atid backs running buses on Shabbat in non-Orthodox
neighborhoods on a limited schedule.
The one wild card in Israel’s religion and state debate is David
Stav, a Modern Orthodox rabbi who will run for the position of chief rabbi in
June. If he wins, supporters of the reform-minded rabbi say he will put a
friendlier face on the Rabbinate and help unite a divided
society.
But in an interview last year with JTA, the reforms outlined by
Stav were mostly procedural. For example, he supports the drive to allow couples
to marry under a rabbi of their choice.
Regev says the best chance for bringing about far-reaching
reforms lies outside the country—in the form of the American Jewish
community.
“At this point it’s all a question of applying sufficient
pressure,” Regev said. “This subject can’t be pushed under the
rug.”
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