Regulations concerning the registration of Israeli citizens and residents have been cancelled temporarily pending conclusion of an international survey of rabbis and Jewish scholars for their opinions of how to handle questions of registration of the children of mixed marriages, Premier David Ben Gurion told his Cabinet today.
As a result, he continued, the government will not accept applications for reconsideration of registration classification made earlier in the case of children of mixed marriages.
This first authoritative statement on the subject since the National Religious Party quit the Cabinet over the issue, is expected to cool tempers for the next few months. It is also expected to take the wind out of the sails of the opposition, which has called for a Parliamentary debate on the appointment of Rabbi Jacob M. Toledano of Tel Aviv as Minister for Religions.
Meanwhile, Chief Rabbi Toledano continues under pressure from Orthodox circles which want him to reject the portfolio. The most recent development is the dispatch of a letter to Rabbi Toledano by Rabbi Judah L. Fishman, one of the most respected rabbis in Israel. Reportedly, Rabbi Fishman’s letter said that “your joining the Cabinet under present conditions would be interpreted by religious Jewry as a betrayal.”
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