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First some quite splendid – and historically important news from Israel:

An all-woman panel sitting at Israel’s Supreme Court has decided that the State must provide equal funding for Reform and Conservative conversion classes. This has given Israel’s Progressive Movement its first steps on the long road to religious parity with Orthodoxy in Israel.

The Israel Religious Action Centre, the legal advocacy arm of the Reform Movement in Israel, says:

“The case itself may seem inconsequential but the implications are huge. This is the first time that the Court has declared that government funding must be provided to non-Orthodox Jewish religious services in Israel.
“The verdict was amazing, going well beyond simply requesting equal funding, and addressing the core issue of religious freedom in Israel. The three judge panel, including Chief Justice Dorit Beinisch, found the State’s practice of favouring only one Jewish stream discriminatory and contradictory to  their responsibility to ensure freedom of religion, ruling:

 ”The duty of the State to pluralism is not only a passive duty, but an active one as well.” They also cited their previous ruling (Naamat and IRAC in 2002) that “Jews in Israel cannot be seen as only one religious sect.”

• IRAC originally filed the petition four years ago against the Immigration Absorption Ministry for discrimination and it was only today the Supreme Court ruled in its favour. 
  To date, the State of Israel funds privately-run conversion centres alongside state centres; however, until now, only Orthodox centres have been recognised and therefore only Orthodox centers received state funding.
  The State defended its position in court based on the fact that Reform and Conservative conversions are not recognised in Israel.

The verdict requires all private non-Orthodox conversion programmes to be reimbursed retroactively for the years 2006-2009 and for all future funding to be given equally to conversion programs of all Jewish streams.
Attorney Einat Hurvitz, IRAC’s Legal Department Director, said:“Today’s verdict reaffirms the fundamental right to equality and religious freedom by ruling that the State may not discriminate between people based on their choice of Jewish stream.

“Today, the Court set a precedent, mandating State-funding for religious services of the Reform Movement and other non-Orthodox streams of Judaism. We hope that this clear message from the court leads to a change in government policy and puts an end to the exclusion of the Reform movement by the State.”

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