Knesset Recognizes Bnei Israel Rights After Moderation Plea by Eshkol

After an ardent plea to the Israeli Rabbinate by Prime Minister Levi Eshkol, who requested moderation in regard to the discriminations against which the Bnei Israel community of Indian Jews has been protesting, the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, today voted a resolution upholding the Government’s stand. The resolution declared that the Bnei Israel Jews are to be considered Jews in every respect, including matters of personal status; endorsed the Eshkol statement; and called upon the Bnei Israel to end the sitdown strike which they have been conducting in front of the Chief Rabbinate here for the last two weeks.

The resolution was voted after a hot, four-hour debate by the Knesset, which had sat in special session to which it had been recalled from its summer recess to deal with the Bnei Israel controversy. The measure did not name the rabbinate specifically, but clearly urged the rabbinate to remove the feelings of discrimination prevalent among the Bnei Israel.

In his statement, Mr. Eshkol had called on the Chief Rabbinate to “take public opinion into consideration and find a way to remove the very cause or reason for the feeling of deprivation or discrimination” which had led to the demonstrations protesting the marriage procedures decreed by the rabbinate, affecting the Bnei Israel.

The Premier stressed that, since the problem of marriages between members of the Bnei Israel and other Jews had been solved two years abo by the Rabbinate, there has not been a single case in which such marriages have been prevented. He said it was clear, however, that the Bnei Israel community and a large segment of the population does not accept the existence of instructions issued by the Chief Rabbinate Council regarding the procedures for performing marriages involving members of the community.

Mr. Eshkol also expressed the Government’s regret and condemnation “regarding the improper, irresponsible and tactless manifestation which was introduced into the street demonstrations.” He was referring to an effigy portraying Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Nissim which was carried by some Bnei Israel demonstrators and burned during last week’s incidents.

After reading the Government statement, the Premier added: “The greatness of Jewish laws and judges throughout generations was that they answered the needs of historical circumstances, and we are entitled to expect solutions in the spirit of the ‘Love of Israel’ that would enable the ingathering of the exiles.”

He indicated the issue had wider ramifications in view of the hope for a greater number of immigrants from Jewish communities of various countries, many of whom have been unable to follow strictly the precepts of Jewish religious law. He said that the immigration and integration of such communities should be facilitated, rather than obstructed.