MERCAZ Newsletter - Summer 2002
Conservative Leaders Warn Against Knesset Legislation

The Leadership Council of Conservative Judaism has warned the Israeli government against supporting a new Conversion Law written to circumvent the recent Supreme Court ruling recognizing the validity of non-Orthodox conversions performed in Israel.

Authored by LCCJ Chair Rabbi Reuven Hammer, the letter described efforts to nullify the High Court’s 9-2 decision as “a calculated slap in the face to our Movement and to world Jewry, a step that recklessly endangers the unity of the Jewish people at a time when Israel is in dire need of total support.”

While the Conversion Law, originally introduced in 1997 but withdrawn because of Diaspora opposition, has yet to come up for a vote, it is feared that this could happen at any time soon.