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Message: <br /><br /> If you are having trouble reading this email, you may view this article online at: http://www.jweekly.com/17492/full/17492/conversion-battle-pits-sharon-vs-his-government-or-diaspora/ <br /><br /> <b>Conversion battle pits Sharon vs. his government or diaspora</b> <br /> Friday, March 22, 2002 | by <p>JESSICA STEINBERG </p> <br /><br /><p>JERUSALEM—A continuing crisis over conversion is presenting Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon with a choice between a confrontation with Orthodox members of his government or one with diaspora Jewry.<br /><br /> Sharon appeared this week to be capitulating to Interior Minister Eli Yishai who threatened that if he lost control of the conversion process, he would pull his fervently Orthodox Shas Party out of Sharon's shaky government.<br /><br /> Sharon announced that he would explore the possibility of a law recognizing only Orthodox conversions, circumventing a February High Court of Justice ruling that accepted the validity of Reform and Orthodox conversions performed in Israel.<br /><br /> Sharon is establishing a committee of coalition faction leaders to examine the issue.<br /><br /> But representatives of the Conservative movement, from both Israel and the United States, wrote to Sharon urging him to exercise "extreme caution" in such a step.<br /><br /> "Any law seeking to overturn the Supreme Court decision," the letter warns, "could lead, heaven help us, to a deep schism and an open confrontation between diaspora Jewry and the state of Israel, and to the erosion of freedom of religion and conscience of Israeli citizens and residents."<br /><br /> In the meantime, despite the court decision, problems continue with the registration of converts. After Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein threatened to hold Yishai in contempt of court last week, the Interior Ministry indeed registered several non-Orthodox converts—primarily Reform ones—as Jewish on their Israeli ID cards.<br /><br /> On Monday, for example, a group of Reform converts was registered—though the Reform movement objected to Yishai's insistence on appending the date of the registration, a subtle means of indicating that it took place after the court ruling.<br /><br /> Conservative converts, especially those attempting to register at the Interior Ministry's regional offices, face greater difficulties, according to Yonatan Leibowitz, spokesman for the Conservative movement in Israel.<br /><br /> Ministry clerks sometimes refuse to register the converts, asking for handwritten letters or not accepting their conversion certificates, and then transferring their cases to the head office in Jerusalem.<br /><br /> Some converts have been registered as Jewish but are given a printout of their ID card, with a handwritten date of change.<br /><br /> "We feel the reason they're doing that is to be able to backtrack and change the registration once they're able to change the conversion law," Leibowitz said. "The whole situation with the Interior Ministry has been beyond contemptuous."<br /><br /> So far, two Conservative converts have been registered and another group of 25 was slated to go to the Interior Ministry on Wednesday.<br /><br /> Movement leaders are seeking a meeting with Sharon as soon as possible.<br /><br /> "It's not just the legitimacy of the Conservative movement that is at stake, but democracy, rule of law and the status of the Supreme Court," Rabbi Ehud Bandel, president of the Conservative movement in Israel, said.<br /><br /> Israeli Conservative movement leaders said that if their converts aren't registered by the end of the week, they would petition the High Court to hold Yishai in contempt of court.<br /><br /> Supreme Court President Aharon Barak had ordered Yishai to explain why he was not carrying out the court ruling. On Sunday, however, the State Prosecutor's Office informed Barak that it saw no reason to open contempt of court proceedings against Yishai.<br /><br /> The Knesset tried to avert a crisis by passing new regulations abolishing the "nationality" entry from identity cards. Proposed by several fervently Orthodox Knesset members, the bill passed a Knesset committee by a 9-4 vote.<br /><br /> That compromise was acceptable to Yishai. However, the new regulations won't take effect for another 40 days, and they don't bypass the entire High Court ruling.<br /><br /> The change would affect only new ID cards, not the nationality listing in the Interior Ministry's population registry.<br /><br /> "We must think together and come up with practical solutions on issues of religion and state in order to avoid a situation where issues that affect our entire destiny as a people will be decided by the court," Deputy Prime Minister Natan Sharansky, leader of the Yisrael Ba'Aliyah Russian immigrant party, said. "This will cause a great rift in the nation, during a period in which unity is one of the most important weapons in our arsenal."</p> <p> </p>

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