The state of conversion in Israel

Conversion in Israel is more complicated today than it was in the time of Ruth, or even in the early days of the State. From the founding of Israel until 1995, twelve State rabbinical courts and municipal rabbis oversaw conversions. Since 2004, a State Conversion Authority, consisting of thirty rabbis under the guidance of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and under the auspices of the Prime Minister’s Office, has overseen State-sanctioned conversions, including those performed by the Army.

The Conversion Authority is reluctant to perform conversions, particularly of the country’s nearly half-million immigrants from the former Soviet Union who are not Jewish according to Halacha (Jewish Law). As a result, the Orthodox, Conservative and Reform movements have each established alternative, nongovernmental conversion courts in recent years.

A 2016 Supreme Court decision required the State to recognize Orthodox, nongovernmental conversions carried out in Israel, both in the State’s official Population Registry, and for purposes of aliyah under the Law of Return – thus giving them equal legal status as State conversions. The Chief Rabbinate, however, which has legal jurisdiction over Jewish marriages in Israel, has refused to recognize these conversions for purposes of marriage registration.

The Supreme Court has also ruled that the State must recognize Conservative and Reform conversions carried out in Israel in the Population Registry, but has not yet handed down its verdict regarding recognition for purposes of aliyah. A petition has been before the court since 2005. – S.A.