It's a moot point whether or not Meretz should be regarded as a party of historic importance within Israeli history. Though it was ostensibly founded in 1992 towards the election held in June of that year, the party really came into being as the Ratz movement, established by former Education Minister Shulamit Aloni, almost 50 years ago, and it is this seniority that provides the party with its historical credentials.

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It is worthwhile taking a few moments to look at it in greater detail. It suffers from the Mapam Syndrome. Mapam, a Hebrew acronym for Mifleget HaPoalim HaMeuhedet (the United Workers Party), was one of the fundamental pillars upon which Meretz was built in 1992, while some of the key figures most associated with Meretz throughout its history, originally started out in the Zionist-socialist youth movement Hashomer Hatzair (Young Guard) and the Mapam party itself. Like Mapam, which had a tremendous impact on the pre-state Yishuv and later on the nascent Jewish polity, Meretz too was a party that exerted a profound influence – and is now fading away, though its impact will be felt for some time to come.

The origins of Meretz, as the party has come to be known in recent years, hail back to some point in the first Intifada (Palestinian uprising) that began in late 1987. A newspaper report appearing in the Hadashot daily in May 1989 tells of the arrest of demonstrators from an elitist left-wing movement that arose during the Intifada, named the "21st Year" (an allusion to the results of the 1967 Six-Day War).

They held a procession in Qalqilya, "threw stones at IDF vehicles... disturbed the soldiers from carrying out their activity and incited the local population in Qalqiliya to rebel. Among those detained was Zehava Gal-On, the director of the B'Tselem human rights organization, along with a group of theater actors and students", so the report claimed.

On occasions, Ratz was to turn into the parliamentary political front for anti-Israeli movements. Thanks to it, Israel became more and more tolerant of acts of cooperation with various forces operating against the state.

Only a week ago, an extremely important article was published in this newspaper by Hanan Greenwood, revealing the handbook of radical left-wing organizations that are essentially involved in acts of espionage against the IDF and the security forces in Judea and Samaria. Under the veneer of its public respectability, Meretz granted legitimacy for the overall activity of these organizations: B'Tselem (which was established at the beginning of the Intifada in 1988), Shovrim Shtika (Breaking the Silence), Yesh Din, Zochrot (Remembering) and other similar organizations that are routinely funded by various foreign organizations.

When the victory of the Labor Party headed by Yitzhak Rabin in 1992, symbolized a counterbalance to the previous 1977 upset or right-wing political shift, Meretz was an out-and-out left-wing political party, working for peace and human rights. But it was also something of a national-Zionist party that could count among its leadership such outright hawks as Ran Cohen and Avshalom "Abu" Vilan.

Other staunch security-minded hawks as Motti Ashkenazi and the late Professor Shuka Porat, also supported the party. Outstanding figures such as Yair Tsaban and Amnon Rubinstein assumed senior ministerial positions in government on behalf of Meretz.

In the 30 years that have elapsed nothing remains of this rich heritage. Precisely when it was presented once again with the opportunity of savoring the taste of government, Meretz turned into a party devoid of its roots, opting for an uncompromising post-Zionist approach.

It is genuinely hard to believe that such political and military "stars" as Yair Golan, Yossi Beilin, and Ehud Barak have all passed through this party, as people pass through a train station. This is proof of the fact that the ideological content of abandoning Zionism is what has led to the party's road to ruin over the years, rather than a lack of ready talent.

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A man wearing a Meretz T-shirt defiled phylacteries at a Chabad booth, near a polling station in Netanya on Tuesday. Following the incident, the man was taken in for questioning by police. A spokesperson for Meretz said the man was impersonating a party supporter.

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Cell phone footage showed the man holding the tefillin and rubbing them against his crotch. People could be heard demanding that the man put down the tefillin. A police spokesman said he was arrested on suspicion of offending religious sensitivities and that "following questioning the findings would be passed on to the prosecution."

Following publication of the footage, a Meretz spokesman said it had asked the Central Elections Committee to investigate the incident. "The man is not a known member of Meretz and is likely an impostor aiming to harm the party. A complaint will be filed to police," a party spokesperson said.

Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu said: "I strongly condemn the shocking desecration of a holy religious artifact by a left-wing activist."

United Torah Judaism chairman Yitzhak Goldknopf said: I am deeply shocked by the defilement of holy tefillin by a Meretz activist at a Chabad booth in Netanya. The incident is the direct result of the incitement of the left-wing bloc led by Yvette [Avigdor] Liberman against the ultra-Orthodox public. We have the power to change the situation for the better by responding to the inciters at the ballot box."

Religious Zionist leader Bezalel Smotrich said: "I am shocked to the depths of my soul, and have tears running down my face," "I am crying over the persecution and hatred of Judaism that this hateful government brought with it. Enough. We must bring sanity back to Israel. The hatred of an evil few will ruin the State of Israel."

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Activists from Zionist organization Im Tirtzu on Monday filed a complaint with the Israeli police against left-wing lawmakers and organizations who expressed sympathy for the six Palestinian NGOs recently classified as terrorist organizations by the Israeli government.

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The targets of the complaint include organizations such as B'Tselem, Rabbis for Human Rights and Physicians for Human Rights.

Individuals include Lior Amihai, executive director of Yesh Din; and MK Gaby Lasky from the left-wing Meretz party as well as Environment Protection Minister Tamar Zandberg, who previously served as leader of Meretz.

The basis for the complaint lies in Israel's Counter-Terrorism Law, which states that anyone who assists the activities of a terrorist organization could face imprisonment of up to five years and anyone who displays sympathy toward a terrorist group is liable to three years behind bars.

Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Friday announced that he signed an executive order outlawing six Palestinian organizations linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terrorist group in Judea and Samaria.

The Palestinian NGOs that Israel stamped with the terrorist designation include Addameer, Al Haq, Bisan Center, DCI-P, Samidoun and UAWC.

The move by Israel turned into a public spat between Washington and Jerusalem over whether notice was given to US officials before the announcement was made.

Meanwhile, MKs from the Joint Arab List faction on Tuesday evening met in Ramallah with representatives of the six Palestinian NGOs, expressing support for their work and promising to continue helping them in their fight to overturn Gantz's decision.

They also lambasted Meretz and the Arab Ra'am party as culpable for Gantz's decision, as they are both members of the ruling coalition.

"In the backward world in which the government of occupation calls itself a government of 'change,' the defense minister has the gall to declare human rights organizations with international reputations as terrorist organizations. Meretz and Ra'am need to decide which side they are on – the side of the occupation, annexation, and apartheid, or the side of peace, equality and democracy. This is a precedential and dangerous decision and we will fight it on all levels, including international," the Joint Arab List said in a statement.

MK Sami Abu Shehadeh from the Balad party said: "We met in Ramallah with the six human rights organizations that Gantz claims are terrorist organizations. These are ethical people who have been working for many years on behalf of human rights and justice and against the occupation and its crimes. Will Gantz have the courage to appear at the [International Criminal Court at] The Hague?"

Earlier Tuesday, officials from the Office of the European Union Representative also met with members of the six Palestinian NGOs

Posting through its special "EU and Palestinians" Twitter handle after the meeting, the EU representative's office said it took the matter seriously and asked Israel for an explanation as to why it decided to outlaw the groups..

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Environmental Protection Minister Tamar Zandberg has set some ambitious goals: She believes she can use her office to play an important role in the global battle against climate change while also promoting peace in the volatile Middle East.

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The Meretz lawmaker laid out her agenda in an interview with The Associated Press ahead of the upcoming UN climate conference in Glasgow. She says Israel, despite its small size and own inability to reach the global goal of zero net emissions by 2050, has the potential to be a key player.

Zandberg said the country is eager to share its expertise in green technologies. The country is widely considered a world leader in areas such as solar energy storage, sustainable protein alternatives, agriculture technology, and desalination.

"These are fields where Israel is already in the cutting edge frontier of global innovation, and we hope that this is something that small Israel can contribute to bigger countries than us to adjust better to the new climate reality," she said.

Major countries, including China and India, have become important markets for Israeli environmental technologies. Zandberg said she already has held a pair of meetings with her counterpart in the United Arab Emirates, which established diplomatic ties with Israel just over a year ago, and the two countries have teams working together on issues like agriculture and water in the arid Middle East.

Israel and Jordan last week held a signing ceremony on a new water-sharing agreement, and Zandberg said the two countries were holding "extensive talks" on various environmental issues.

"Our neighbors share our region and share our climate," she said. "So it's only natural that we will face them together. That can contribute to [the fight against] climate change but also to the regional stability and to our peace in the Middle East."

Zandberg acknowledged some frustration with the limitations created by the political reality of Israel's patchwork coalition government, but said environmental cooperation provides an opportunity to improve the atmosphere and lay the groundwork for future negotiations. She said she has met with her Palestinian counterpart, and professional teams meet regularly to work on issues of mutual concern, such as protecting shared water resources.

"We live here together and we share the land and we share the air and share the water," she said. "The better we communicate, the better our peoples will live."

Israel has acknowledged it will fall short of the goal of the international community to reach zero net emissions by 2050. It expects to reduce emissions by 85% by that time. Environmentalists have cited a lack of political will by previous governments and the country's reliance on newly discovered natural gas for energy for the lower target.

Zandberg said this figure was calculated based largely on a situation inherited from previous governments. She also said Israel's relatively high population growth is an obstacle. While Israel lags behind on its own renewable energy goals, she said the government is determined to help the world reach the zero-emissions target through its technology exports and by doing more on the domestic front.

"That's our goal to close that gap," she said. "We are working on new climate legislation for the first time in the Israeli parliament. We are working on the series of implementation plans, how to take the low carbon economy governmental declaration and make it a reality in sectors of energy, transportation, waste, agriculture. So we are serious."

There are other challenges. The Dead Sea is slowly shrinking. This is the result of years of water diversion from the Jordan River for drinking and agriculture and from damage caused by mineral-extraction companies. A secretive oil pipeline deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates has raised fears that an oil spill might one day destroy the Red Sea coral reefs, prized by scientists for their unique resilience against warming seas. Water resources that traverse Israel.

Zandberg said her team is involved in negotiations to ensure that Dead Sea factories, which are among Israel's worst polluters, address environmental concerns as licenses are renewed in the coming years. The Israel-UAE pipeline is now under review by the government, "and we will express our concerns in those discussions," she said.

Zandberg has also been pushing for a new tax on single-use plastics to go into effect next year.

Gidon Bromberg, the Israeli director of EcoPeace, an environmental advocacy group, said it was too early to judge Zandberg's performance, but her appointment has raised hopes Israel can finally make some progress on long-festering issues.

"We're in a very unique position where we have a minister of environment who is extremely committed to the issue and wants to succeed," Bromberg said. "You have an environment minister who's an environmentalist."

Whether she succeeds, he said, will depend in part on her political skills, in particular her relationship with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. Despite their different backgrounds, Bromberg said that so far they appear to have a good rapport.

"It's still very early days. The issues are enormous," he said.

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Just four days after ministers from the Meretz party visited Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Labor Secretary-General Eran Hermony led several members of his party on a delegation to Ramallah Thursday.

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The delegation, which included central party figures from across the country, met with senior PA and Fatah party officials at the invitation of the Palestine Liberation Organization's Committee for Interaction With Israeli Society. The committee is headed by Mohammed al-Madani, who is also a member of the Fatah Central Committee.

Palestinian delegation members, among them Palestinian Social Affairs Minister Dr. Ahmed Majdalani and Abbas advisor Dr. Mahmoud al-Habbash, congratulated all Labor party members. They noted Labor had in the past worked with the Palestinian leadership toward a resolution to the conflict and that they continued to see the party and others as a partner for peace.

Hermoni said, "The objective of the delegation was to hold a dialogue between various office-holders on both sides, as well as to send a clear message in favor of peace and the two-state solution. The Labor party has a responsibility to fearlessly fly the diplomatic flag and emphatically make clear that it will not allow any action in the government that creates a one-state reality, which would be the destruction of the Zionist enterprise and the existence of a Jewish and democratic Israel. No one can ignore reality, and no speech will change that. We must remember that peace is an important value, and it must not become a four-letter word."

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Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas hosted a member of Israel's cabinet for a late-night meeting in Ramallah Sunday.

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Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz became the second top official to meet with Abbas since the new Israeli government took office in June, in a move his Meretz party said was coordinated with and authorized by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. He was joined by other Meretz party members, including Regional Cooperation Minister Esawi Frej. Defense Minister Benny Gantz also met with Abbas at his West Bank headquarters in August.

According to the Palestinian Authority's Wafa news agency, Abbas "stressed the importance of ending the Israeli occupation and achieving a just and comprehensive peace" in their meeting.

The PA president reportedly asked the Meretz officials in attendance for a meeting with Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked, who tweeted in response to the report: "I will not meet with a Holocaust denier who is prosecuting IDF soldiers at [the International Criminal Court at] The Hague and pays Jew killers."

Right-wing members of the coalition criticized the visit. Housing and Construction Minister Ze'ev Elkin of the New Hope party called the meeting "a waste of time and an unnecessary event that causes damage." He said, "Abu Mazen [Abbas] is at the end of his road and unable to conduct a diplomatic process."

Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Abir Kara of Bennett's Yamina party wrote: "The green pass [for restricting entrance to certain venues to Israelis who are vaccinated against or have recovered from the coronavirus] has crashed, millions of Israelis are unable to issue [a pass due to technical difficulties], and hundreds of thousands of business are up in the air – but the health minister feels no urgency to deal with it. It's more pressing to go have dinner with the head of the terror authority in Ramallah."

Likud Party Chairman Yariv Levin blasted the meeting. "Israel's left-wing government minister continues to crawl on its hands and knees to Abu Mazen, and all with Prime Minister Bennett's blessing. Meeting with terrorism funder Abu Mazen is more important to the health minister than the health of Israel's citizens," he said.

Horowitz, for his part, posted a picture of himself and Abbas on Twitter. "We have a shared mission: to preserve the hope for peace, on the basis of a two-state solution," he tweeted.

"Meretz has a mission within the government: to keep the two-station alive, not to let it disappear, and not to sabotage the chance of getting there in the future because there is no other solution," he asserted.

Horowitz continued: "We believe there is no room for unilateral steps that harm the chance of implementing the two-state solution: not for new settlements, not for illegal outposts, and not for violence by radical settler elements," he said.

Meretz MK Michal Rozin said: "It's important we express the fact that we still believe in the two-state solution. I expect to hear from Abu Mazen his commitment to the war on terror and security cooperation with Israel – to promote a struggle that is nonviolent."

Frej said: "We are here to advance the two-state solution, to say 'you are our partner.' The future is important, but we must first act to make a better present, and for that, you need cooperation between the ministries and governments."

In a statement following the meeting, Abbas' office said: "We must begin to create confidence-building steps, to prove we intend to make peace, and to allow to maintain the hope of the Palestinian people. I invite all new government ministers in Israel to come here. We don't have to agree, [but] we do need to talk."

According to the Wafa report, mere hours ahead of the meeting, Abbas called the parents of the terrorist killed while trying to carry out an attack in Jerusalem as well as the parents of the Islamic Jihad operative who was killed during an IDF operation in Jenin last Thursday, to offer his and the Palestinian people's condolences. "May they rest in Heaven. They are the heroes of the Palestinian people," he said.

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Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz and Environmental Protection Minister Tamar Zandberg met with their Palestinian Authority counterparts on Wednesday, the first ministerial-level meeting between Israel and the PA in years, officials confirmed.

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Wednesday's meetings were initiated by Minister of Regional Cooperation Esawi Frej, who encourages ministers to renew contacts with their counterparts in the Palestinian Authority.

Horowitz, Zandberg and Frej are all members of the far-left Meretz party.

"There will be further meetings with transport ministers, economy ministers. The process is continuing. There is a will and commitment on both sides  –we will talk," Frej said.

The meetings come amid a growing number of high-level contacts between Israel and the Palestinian Authority after the Bennett-Lapid government was sworn in last month.

This article was first published by i24NEWS.

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Meretz party head Nitzan Horowitz justified the International Criminal Court's decision to investigate Israel for war crimes, saying "there was room for the decision," in an interview, Saturday night.

Speaking to Channel 13 News' Ayala Hasson, Horowitz said, "Israel needs to ask itself what it did to prevent it."

Asked if the decision crossed a red line, he said, "The red line is that there are no negotiations with the Palestinians and we're continuing to build settlements like there's no tomorrow, and then we wonder why there are steps taken against that."

He said, "I don't want Israel to be in these situations and to have them file proceedings against us in all kinds of courts, but on the other hand, I am in favor of cooperating with the court and not trying to censure it."

As for the Israel Defense Forces' actions in 2014's Operation Protective Edge, the focus of the ICC investigation, Horowitz said, "We said there are things that shouldn't have been done, and massive harm was done to the civilian population there. It's not for nothing the court said it needed to look into it."

Yamina party MK Ayelet Shaked, who Hasson interviewed immediately after, said, "We won't serve in a government with Meretz. Horowitz's remark justifying the political and anti-Semitic action of the court at The Hague and its persecution of IDF soldiers is a disgrace to the Israeli Knesset."

In a statement, the Likud party said, "Horowitz is neglecting IDF soldiers that protect him and all of us. The Hague court's decision is an ant-Semitic one, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will fight everywhere around the world to have it rescinded."

New Hope blasted Horowitz's "miserable remark at the expense of IDF soldiers. No campaign justifies support for the anti-Semitic ruling and he would be wise to apologize for it."

Otzma Yehudit head Itamar Ben-Gvir said Horowitz's remarks crossed a red line.

"The attorney general must order the removal of Horowitz's immunity tonight and order the opening of an investigation into him on suspicion of [committing] treason against Israel. Anyone who supports putting IDF soldiers on trial at an anti-Semitic court that only aspires to harm the State of Israel has no place in the Knesset. Otherwise we won't be able to look IDF officers and soldiers in the eyes," he said.

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After a Channel 12 News poll predicted Meretz would fail to pass the electoral threshold, the party has its work cut out for it. According to two other polls, the left-wing party is expected to gain the four Knesset seats necessary to make it in to the next government.

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While Meretz hasn't resorted to scare tactics just yet, party members see the poll's results as a wakeup call to their supporters, reminding them they need to vote for Meretz if they want to make sure the party makes it into the next Knesset.

"This is decision time, and it's time to return to Meretz. Without Meretz, [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu has a government," party head Nitzan Horowitz told Israel Hayom. "Without Meretz, he [Netanyahu] has 61 Knesset seats with [far-right Otzma Yehudit head Itamar] Ben-Gvir and [Religious Zionist Party head Bezalel] Smotrich. Without Meretz, there will be no one to fight them in the Knesset."

In a direct appeal to voters that, according to the polls, are now contemplating voting for other parties in the center-left bloc, Horowitz said, "I turn to all the Meretz supporters and voters that are now with Labor, Yesh Atid, and Blue and White and call on them to come home. Left-wing voters have seen time and again that there is no replacement for Meretz and its struggles against the occupation, the fascism, and the dictatorship creeping into Israel."

Meretz chairwoman Tamar Zandberg opted to focus on the historical importance of a left-wing party that has remained outside of the coalition government for the past 21 years.

Referring to the late Rabbi Meir Kahane, who advocated the forced removal of Palestinians and a Jewish theocracy in Israel, Zandberg said, "You can't imagine a Knesset with Kahana's party and without [late Meretz leaders] Shulamit Aloni and Yossi Sarid. This is a party that has existed for 30 years now, fought for a world of values no one else represents, and has always kept and will always keep its promises."

Meretz MK Yair Golan said the poll was "a wakeup call for anyone interested in Israel remaining a democracy. It's either Ben-Gvir's and Netanyahu's Kahaneism and corruption or Meretz."

Meanwhile, the party is working to activate its base of what they say is around 150,000 voters. Activists are confident that despite the party's showing in the polls, if they make an effort in the three weeks leading up to the election, they will make it into the Knesset.

Activists are set to campaign at around a thousand different sites across the country to convince voters that "only Meretz can be trusted."

Party activists will now focus their campaign efforts on those deliberating between a vote for Meretz and Labor. Meretz plans to remind voters they cannot rely on the other left-wing and centrist parties, whose members say they aren't on the Left and have no problem joining the Haredim in a coalition government. They add that while many of these politicians said they would refuse to join a Netanyahu-led government when push comes to shove, they were all too happy to oblige.

They also plan to campaign for Arab votes, reminding members of the sector that both Issawi Frej and Rinawie Zoabi have a realistic chance of making it into the next Knesset.

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The High Court of Justice sparked controversy Monday with a landmark ruling on non-Orthodox conversion, evoking outrage on the Right and accolades from the Left. Right-wing parties panned the decision ordering the state to recognize Reform and Conservative conversions as a move that undermines Israel's Jewish character, while their Left counterparts praised it as a move promoting equality between all the denominations in Judaism.

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Likud condemned the ruling saying that "the High Court made a decision that endangers the Law of Return, which is a cornerstone of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. Only a vote for Likud will ensure a stable right-wing government that will return sovereignty to the people and the Knesset."

Yamina leader Naftali Bennett admonished the High Court and accused it of "intervening in government decisions and forgetting its role.

"The State of Israel's recognition of conversion [to Judaism] will be determined by the democratically elected representatives of the people, and not jurists," he said.

Aryeh Deri, head of the Sephardi ultra-Orthodox party Shas, lambasted the ruling as "a fatal blow to Israel's Jewish character and a complete destruction of the status quo in matter of religion and state that have existed for more than 70 years."

Shas' leader said that the ruling underlines the court's disconnect from the majority of the Israeli public, "who want to maintain the Jewish state and preserve Judaism according to traditions that go back thousands of years," and further vowed to support legislation that will prevent the court from intervening in such matters in the future.

MK Yaakov Asher of the Ashkenazi Haredi party United Torah Judaism, accused the High Court of intervening in the election campaign in favor of "a very specific party," alluding at the Center-Left block.

Echoing similar sentiment, Chief Rabbi David Lau said, "those who converted [to Judaism] through a Reform conversion and the likes, are not Jews, no High Court or any other decision will change that.

Religious Zionist Party leader Bezalel Smotrich called the ruling "outrageous."

"No one has given the High Court the authority to rule on matters pertaining to the very core of Israel's character. It is acceptable to have disagreements and to debate [them], and make a decision as you do in a democracy. [The matter of conversions] will not be ruled on by 15 judges who trampled over the Knesset, the government, the people's sovereignty, and time and again undermine the state's Jewish character," he said.

Far-Right Otzma Yehudit party leader Itamar Ben-Gvir said the ruling "undermines the Jewish identity of the State of Israel" and creates a "dangerous precedent" that could "erase the Jewish majority in the country and turn it into a state of all citizens."

The Tzohar Modern-Orthodox Rabbinical Organization strongly criticized the decision, saying it will "impact the very Jewish future of the state." It further blamed "power brokers" associated with the Chief Rabbinate for allowing this decision to go ahead.

Among those who spoke out in favor of the ruling was Opposition Leader Yair Lapid who said, "Israel must have equal rights for all streams of Judaism – Orthodox, Reform or Conservative. We all need to live here together with tolerance and mutual respect. A sane government will put an end to the situation whereby Israel is the only democracy in the world without freedom of religion for Jews."

Blue and White chief Benny Gantz commended the ruling as well and vowed that as long his party was in the Knesset and the government, it would make sure to preserve the ruling and the independence of the court.

Labor leader Merav Michaeli welcomed the court's decision and said that the party would "continue to work towards a pluralistic and egalitarian society that recognizes all streams of Judaism."

Also praising the ruling, Yisrael Beytenu head Avigdor Lieberman said that the party would "continue to fight against religious coercion and will preserve the character of the State of Israel as a Jewish, Zionist and liberal state."

Meretz leader Nitzan Horowitz said that Haredi and religious Zionist leaders "do not have a monopoly over Judaism" and praised the court's decision, as "an important step in the dismantling of the Orthodox monopoly over our lives."

Fellow Meretz MK Tamar Zandberg said, "It is time for Israel to break free of the shackles of the rabbinate's monopoly. Judaism has many varieties – Israeli is the home of all Jews."

Rabbi Dr. Daniel Hartman, president of the Shalom Hartman Institute, whose mission statement is "to strengthen Jewish peoplehood, identity, and pluralism," praised the ruling as "the fulfillment of the vision of Zionism. ...
I sincerely hope that it heralds the beginning of a new discourse on religion and state and the relations between the various tribes within Judaism and within Israeli society."

The Ne'emanei Torah Va'Avodah religious Zionist organization noted that the ruling would have no significant impact as Reform and Conservative conversions are already recognized outside Israel.

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Masorti Movement head Rakefet Ginsberg praised the court's decision describing it as "just, understandable and clear. There is more than one way to be a Jew in Israel."

President and CEO of the Jewish People Policy Institute Professor Yedidia Stern said that the court's decision was "a necessary and obvious ruling for Israel as well as for the Jewish People. As the Nation-State of the Jewish People, anyone who is willing to become a Jew, and convert by any recognized stream, Reform, Conservative or Orthodox, must be allowed to gain citizenship."

Yori Yalon, Dan Lavie, Hanan Greenwood and Yair Altman contributed to this report.

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