The Committee for Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs will convene again to discuss the black lists of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel documenting citizens whose Jewishness is in doubt, after last week's scheduled discussion did not take place when the representatives of the Chief Rabbinate failed to arrive.
The Constitution, Law and Justice Committee will prepare for second and third readings of the bill for extending the jurisdiction of the rabbinical courts in matters of divorce to non-Israeli Jews abroad.
The Ministerial Committee will continue the discussion of MK Moshe Gafni's proposal for budgeting the Religious Councils in Israel.
Last Monday, MK Bezalel Smotrich (Jewish Home) and others, submitted The Chief Military Rabbi 2018 bill, which seeks to regulate the status of the Chief Military Rabbi in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). This bill proposes granting the Military Rabbi the rank of General and not Brigadier General, as is the current practice. The Chief Military Rabbi will be directly subordinate to the IDF Chief of Staff and not to the Personnel Directorate, which currently oversees the Chief Rabbi as well as the Gender Affairs Advisor and the Chief Education Officer. He will not be required to rise through the ranks and will be awarded the rank of general after having being ordained as a rabbi by the Chief Rabbinate and on completion of compulsory army service. Furthermore, the Military Rabbi will not be subject to the authority of the Chief of Staff in matters of halacha, but will answer to the civilian Chief Rabbinate. The bill also proposes that the Chief Military Rabbi be appointed by the Minister of Defense in consultation with a professional committee consisting of five members, three of whom will be rabbis (one of the Chief Rabbis of Israel who will serve as chairman of the committee, the former Military Rabbi, and the Head of a yeshivat hesder, which combines Torah study with military service) together with the Head of the Personnel Directorate and a public representative to be appointed by the government. The preamble to the law explains: "The aim of this bill is to regulate the appointment process of the Chief Military Rabbi, to determine his status as a permanent member of the General Staff of the IDF, with equal status to other IDF generals, and with professional- halachic independence. As the Chief Rabbis of Israel and the Chief Rabbinate Council (of which the Chief Military Rabbi is a member) legally represent halachic authority in Israel, it is proposed that on matters of halacha the Chief Military Rabbi will be subordinate to the rulings of the Chief Rabbinate Council." | For the full text of the bill
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The Jewish Religious Services Law - (Amendment – Regular Subsidy for the Council's Budget) submitted by MK Moshe Gafni (United Torah Judaism) – continuation of discussion (in preparation for second and third readings in the Knesset Finance Committee)
The Knesset Committees
Tuesday, June 19, 2018
At 12:30
The Committee for Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs will discuss:
The Chief Rabbinate's black lists of citizens whose Jewishness is in doubt
The lists of citizens whose Jewishness is "subject to clarification" by the Chief Rabbinate
At 13:00
The Constitution, Law and Justice Committee
Jurisdiction of the Rabbinical Courts (Marriage and Divorce (Amendment No. 4) (International Authority in Divorce) 2018 – preparation for second and third readings
LAST WEEK IN THE KNESSET
Prime Minister Netanyahu: "There is only one country in the Middle East that accepts its gay community, and I personally am proud that we have our own rising star – MK Amir Ohana. This is the only place in the Middle East where gays can walk freely in the center of Tel Aviv and have representation in the Knesset.” - The American Jewish Committee (AJC), the leading global Jewish advocacy organization, held a conference in Jerusalem last week, hosting leaders from around the world, on issues on the Israeli and Jewish agenda. Amongst the participants were PM Benjamin Netanyahu, President Reuven Rivlin, Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and Chancellor of Austria Sebastian Kurz. The Minister of Diaspora Affairs (also Minister of Education)MK Naftali Bennet (Jewish Home) said at the conference: "Our biggest problem is the very deep chasm that has opened between us and the Jews of the United States. Surveys indicate that Israeli Jews are moving towards the right and favor more traditional Judaism, while American Jews tend to be more left-leaning and liberal. But this is not a reason to break up the relationship between us." Avi Gabbay, leader of the Zionist Union, said: "We have Orthodox, Reform, and Conservative Jews in Israel, and we also have Christians. We are all brothers and the Western Wall belongs to us all equally, and when I become Prime Minister I will implement the compromise deal {allowing an egalitarian prayer space at the Western Wall which was later revoked} as was originally agreed to and signed." | Visit the JPW website for the further quotations on the conference
An internal study found that in 2017 one out of five couples married outside the Rabbinate - A new in-depth study has found that at least 2,434 private Jewish marriage ceremonies were held in Israel in 2017, representing a growth of about 8% when compared with 2016, at the same time as a drop of 8% was recorded in the amount of couples marrying in the Rabbinate over the last two years. 39,111 couples were married in the Rabbinate in 2015, compared with 36,205 couples in 2017. Furthermore, 6,500 couples married abroad and registered with the Population and Immigration Authority. Factoring these two findings shows that 20% of marriages per year are conducted outside the rabbinate. MK Michael Rozin (Meretz) said in response to these findings: "This is further proof that the Israeli public has become tired of the Rabbinate and of religious coercion and it demonstrates beyond all doubt the divide that has developed between the public and a government that is controlled by the religious establishment. The Chief Rabbinate is an anachronistic and chauvinistic body and it has to be deprived of its exclusive authority over our personal lives. I have demanded that the matter be brought urgently before the Internal Affairs and Environment Committee." | Visit the JPW website for the further quotations on the conference
MK Rachel Azaria: "Most Israelis do not respect the Rabbinate and would prefer not to marry in it. Diaspora Jews feel exactly like Israelis and would like to bring about a change, but the current political structure does not allow this." - On Monday the subject of Jewish pluralism in the Diaspora was discussed in the Committee for Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs, with the participation of a delegation of the Jewish Religious Equality Coalition (JREC). Several MK's who attended sent messages to the American Jewish community. MK Tzipi Livni (Zionist Union) said: "We have to change the existing dialogue between Israel and Diaspora Jews. We need to respect Israelis and Diaspora Jews who interpret their Jewishness in different ways." MK Yael Paran Cohen (Zionist Union): "I think that I am the first MK to be associated with the Conservative community in Israel. The Conservative movement has celebrated its 40th anniversary but it is still regarded as just one of the several other small communities in Israel. In order to change this fact and to enable Jewish pluralism in Israel we have to expose the Israeli public to this issue as much as possible." MK Yehuda Glick (Likud): "The present situation and the gulf existing between Israel and Diaspora Jews is not the worst case in the history of the Jewish people. The discourse would be more effective if representatives of the Rabbinate would participate." | Visit the JPW website for the further quotations on the conference
