Debate over religious councils hinges on a push for legislation

JERUSALEM, Jan. 18 (JTA) — Orthodox Israeli legislators are about to go to war with the Supreme Court over the issue of religious pluralism. The high court, which has come under attack by the legislators for issuing a series of rulings that whittle away at Orthodox control over religious life in Israel, recently issued a decision requiring that elected Conservative and Reform representatives be allowed to serve on municipal religious councils. And last week, the Supreme Court specifically ordered the Haifa religious council to allow the participation of non-Orthodox representatives. Following up on the court ruling, the head of the Haifa council convened a meeting Monday, but he immediately ended the session when representatives from the Reform and Conservative movements were the only ones to show up. Council head Yitzhak Getz said it was clear even before the meeting that fervently Orthodox members of the council would boycott the session under order from their rabbis. Orthodox representatives from the Likud and Labor parties also absented themselves. The council is scheduled to reconvene next week, but by then, the high court directive to open the council to non-Orthodox representatives may be moot — because the Orthodox political parties are mounting a push in the Knesset for passage this week of legislation that would bypass the court’s ruling. Religious legislators are seeking passage of the “bypass bill,” which requires every member of a religious council to abide by rulings of the Orthodox Chief Rabbinate. Reform and Conservative leaders were furious after the Knesset backed the bill in the first of three votes last month, saying the bill mocked the Supreme Court’s ruling. The powerful religious councils have exclusive jurisdiction over marriage, kashrut, burial and other religious matters for Jews living in Israel. The councils have long been criticized as outmoded and inefficient. Chief Sephardi Rabbi Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron is among those calling for reforms. Supporters of the bypass include Knesset member Avraham Ravitz of the fervently Orthodox Agudat Yisrael Party. Threatening to use his power as chairman of the Knesset Finance Committee, Ravitz has demanded passage of the bill as a condition for getting approval of the nation’s 1999 budget legislation. In the wake of last week’s Supreme Court ruling, the spiritual leaders of two fervently Orthodox parties said any high court ruling that goes against Jewish religious law is invalid. The statement from the leaders of Degel HaTorah and Agudat Yisrael is binding on their followers in the Knesset and in government offices. While the ruling on the Haifa council prompted the decree, it was preceded by a series of court decisions that put the judicial system on a collision course with the fervently Orthodox community. Among the rulings was a decision by the High Court of Justice invalidating a decades-old arrangement under which yeshiva students are exempted from army service, and a recent district court ruling ordering the Interior Ministry to recognize as Jewish 23 people who underwent conversions performed by Conservative and Reform rabbis. Interior Minister Eli Suissa of the fervently Orthodox Shas Party filed an appeal this week with the Supreme Court to challenge the district court ruling. And in a separate move, Suissa is pressing to reduce the size of the religious councils, a move that could prevent Conservative and Reform representatives from serving.