The Ministerial Committee for Legislation gave a green light on Sunday for the highly controversial conversion bill spearheaded by Religious Services Minister Matan Kahana.
The bill, which seeks to end the Chief Rabbinate's control over the mechanism, would empower regional and municipal rabbinates with the authority to oversee conversions if the would-be convert prefers to bypass the chief rabbinate.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
It will make it easier for Israelis who are immigrants or children of immigrants eligible for Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return to convert despite not being Jewish under religious law. Sunday's approval paves the way for the bill's first reading at the Knesset.
Ultra-Orthodox lawmakers in particular, and the Haredi community in general, have expressed harsh criticism against the legislation, claiming the Knesset does not have the authority to determine who is Jewish.
"These are halachic questions, and there is only one address for them: the Chief Rabbinate. If someone is bothered by assimilation, let them change the Law of Return with just as much force and enthusiasm," Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau said in this regard. "According to Interior Ministry data, the vast majority of immigrants to Israel are not Jewish, so why bring them here and then tell them there is a problem? Stop it beforehand if it pains you that much. Why change a law that is halachic in its entirety instead of preventing the problem in the first place?"
Similarly, Haredi lawmakers opposed the kashrut bill – also spearheaded by Kahana – meant to open up the supervision industry to competition, which came into effect at the beginning of the year, after having been approved by Knesset members following a tumultuous process.
