Israel’s Supreme Court Recognizes Non-Orthodox Conversions Done in Israel

People who are converted to Judaism by the liberal movements in Israel must be recognized as Jews for the purpose of citizenship, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled on Monday.

The ruling means that the Law of Return, which states that anyone who is Jewish is eligible for citizenship in Israel, applies to anyone who was converted by the Reform and Masoriti (Conservative) movements in Israel.

The cases of the 12 people who were converted by non-Orthodox streams of Judaism, which were first filed in 2005, was decided by an expanded nine-justice panel of the Supreme Court. The ruling does not extend to religious issues, such as being considered Jewish for the purpose of marriage, which is the purview of the rabbinical court system.

In 1988, the high court ruled that non-Orthodox conversions performed outside of Israel must be recognized for the purposes of citizenship, but did not include such conversions inside of Israel.

The haredi Orthodox parties, as well as the Likud Party of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the Religious Zionist Party headed by Bezalel Smotrich, condemned the ruling.