The state will soon tell the High Court of Justice that only people who have undergone Orthodox – but not Reform and Conservative – conversions in Israel will be recognized as Jewish converts and therefore entitled to immigrate under the Law of Return, according to an Interior Ministry source.
The High Court has demanded that the state define which kind of conversions are considered valid by October 29 in judging petitions involving 15 non-Israelis, some of whom converted in Reform and Conservative ceremonies.
The state refrained from distinguishing between conversions in different streams of Judaism when it previously argued that no conversion performed in Israel should entitle the convert to oleh status (that of an immigrant under the Law of Return), which has been policy for the past two years.
The court rejected that argument on May 31, writing that any non-Israel undergoing "valid" conversions be allowed to become an oleh and requiring the state to clarify its ambiguous position.
In a meeting between the Prime Minister's Office, the Justice Ministry, and the Interior Ministry earlier this month, the position to recognize only state-authorized conversions – which are always Orthodox – was adopted, according to the Interior Ministry source. This was the policy before two years ago. Private Orthodox conversions would also be excluded, but only a handful are done every year.
"Our minister's personal opinion is not the same. But what was decided was decided by the state," the official said of Avraham Poraz of Shinui, who supports recognizing conversions from the three major streams of Judaism.
Justice Ministry spokesman Ya'acov Galanti, however, said that no final decision has been made. "When we answer the court we will make it public," he said of the state's position.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's spokesmen said they didn't know the status of the conversation on the topic.
Sharon spokesman Ra'anan Gissin said the prime minister thinks that "the important thing is to take the Orthodox conversion and simplify and expedite it."
He added that Sharon isn't "distinguishing" between the various streams of Judaism but feels it is important that there be "one conversion process."
When it comes to legitimizing all three types of conversions, he said, "the Orthodox are refusing that. The only way to expedite [the situation] is to make the Orthodox conversion, which has been accepted in Israel for many, many years, simpler."
Gissin noted that in the past Sharon has remarked that "if he had to pass the conversion process today, he would probably have failed."