Religious Affairs Minister Zerach Warhaftig assured the Knesset today that Conservative rabbis had not received permits to perform marriage or divorce ceremonies in Israel. Replying to a question from Aguda’s Yehuda Meir Abramovitz, Warhaftig said the Chief Rabbinate Council had investigated reports in the press claiming some permits had been issued and found them totally incorrect.
To a question from the Free Center’s Eliad Shostak, Warhaftig said his Ministry had been trying to no avail since the Six-Day War to dig on parts of the road over the Mount of Olives which is thought to cover Jewish graves. The Ministry had appealed to the Jerusalem municipality and to the Transport Ministry and suggested schemes for by-pass roads, but for financial and town planning reasons they were not accepted.
Earlier this year a group of religious zealots dug up one lane of the road forcing the municipality to divert all traffic to the other lane. This situation continues but it is believed there are graves under the other lane too.
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