A non-binding resolution on religious pluralism has touched a raw nerve in the Knesset.
Outraged legislators are vowing to reverse the motion, which passed 14-10 during a thinly attended session, calling on the High Court of Justice to refrain from ruling on matters affecting religion.
On one side of the debate are legislators who stoutly defend the court as one of the foundations on which Israeli democracy is based.
On the other are legislators from religious parties who feel threatened by a court that has issued a series of rulings eroding the status quo, which gives the Orthodox Chief Rabbinate control over Jewish life-cycle events, and granting more recognition to Judaism’s liberal streams.
Last February, haredi, or fervently Orthodox, leaders declared the judiciary “enemies” of the Jewish people after the High Court issued an order to allow Conservative and Reform representatives to serve on local religious councils.
The haredi leaders also were stung by a court ruling that canceled a decades- old arrangement under which yeshiva students are entitled to army draft exemptions and a separate decision allowing a kibbutz to maintain business operations on the Sabbath.
In February, some 250,000 fervently Orthodox Jews heeded the calls of their rabbis to take part in a mass prayer vigil to seek an end to what organizers termed the “anti-religious” rulings of the High Court.
In a counterdemonstration about a mile away, some 50,000 people — including university students and youth group members — filled a public park to make their stand known.
Those same divisions were apparent in the Knesset this week.
Knesset member Zahava Gal-On, a member of the secular Meretz Party, received permission from Burg to raise the matter on the Knesset floor Tuesday — prior to a new debate on the resolution next week.
“I think it’s a miserable and stupid decision, and hope the High Court will not pay attention to it,” Gal-On told Israel Radio. She acknowledged that members of her own party had failed to show up to vote against the motion.
“I admit, it was a foul-up on our part. Some of our members were not in the building at the time, everyone was busy with different things.
“But I think it is not too late to change this awful decision that was made,” she added.
Coalition whip Ophir Pines said the motion displayed contempt toward both the court and parliament.
But Pines backed a second motion that was also passed Monday, which called on the High Court to show sensitivity to the various sectors of Israeli society on issues crucial to them.
“I think the Knesset as the legislative authority should send a polite, respectful message to the High Court to demonstrate sensitivity regarding matters in political dispute in this house. But not more than that,” Pines said.
On the other side of the divide, Religious Affairs Minister Yitzhak Cohen, a member of the fervently Orthodox Shas Party, expressed satisfaction with passage of the first resolution and warned against taking steps to cancel it.
“If the Knesset starts to function based on the caprice of one party or another, the whole thing could begin to be dangerous and be seen as the beginning of the unraveling of the Israeli parliament,” he said.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
