Yosef expresses extreme discontent over IDF conversion bill

Shas opposes legislation that would effectively detach military conversion courts from the Chief Rabbinate.

By JONAH MANDEL
Rabbi Ovadia Yosef 311 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
Rabbi Ovadia Yosef 311
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
Shas ministers Eli Yishai, Ariel Attias and Meshulam Nahari met with the party's spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef on Wednesday morning and brought him up to speed on the political developments regarding the advancement of the bill to legislate an autonomous and legitimate status to the conversions taking place in the IDF, effectively detaching the military conversion courts from the Chief Rabbinate.
The bill, proposed by Israel Beiteinu members David Rotem and Robert Ilatov, won the approval of the Ministerial Committee for Legislation on Sunday, and faces three more rounds of Knesset votes before it becomes law. On Tuesday, Chief Sephardi Rabbi Shlomo Amar, who heads the rabbinate's conversion mechanism, threatened Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in a letter that he would resign from his responsibilities over conversions in Israel, if the premier didn't halt the bill from becoming law.
According to reports, Yosef expressed his extreme discontent over the possibility that the IDF conversions would be detached from the Chief Rabbinate.
The proposal was approved as a government bill by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation on Sunday, and faces two more Knesset votes to become law.
On Tuesday, Chief Sephardi Rabbi Shlomo Amar, who heads the Rabbinate’s conversion mechanism, threatened Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in a letter that he would resign from his responsibilities over conversions if the premier didn’t stop the bill from passing.
According to reports, Yosef expressed extreme discontent over the possibility that the IDF conversions would be detached from the Chief Rabbinate.
Speaking on Israel Radio, Nahari said that such legislation would change the status quo on religious issues, and therefore breach the coalition agreement. Rotem countered by telling the radio station that the breach to the status quo was created when certain elements decided to cast doubt on the validity of the military conversions, and that his legislation was meant to stop this from happening again.
“The objections of Amar and Shas show once again how they are driven by narrow political considerations rather than Halacha,” the Masorti Movement said in its statement.