600 American Rabbis accuse Netanyahu of ‘betrayal’

Nearly 600 Rabbis have signed a letter to Benjamin Netanyahu in which they accuse the Israeli Prime Minister of betraying his promise to non-orthodox Jewish communities.

The letter which is reported to have been personally delivered yesterday to the Israeli Consul-General in New York conveyed the Rabbis “dismay, anger and sense of betrayal” over the lack of Jewish pluralism in Israel and the monopoly granted to Orthodox Jews by the state on questions about Jewish identity. They are said to be particularly concerned about possible changes in Israel’s conversion law that could provide the Orthodox-run Chief Rabbinate with total control over all religious conversions performed in the country.

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The Rabbis took the decision to confront Netanyahu over the Israeli government’s decision three months ago not to provide the non-Orthodox Jewish movements with a new plaza at the Buraq Wall (also known as the Western Wall). Reformist and conservative Jews are not allowed to pray at the site. But it seems they were promised an “egalitarian” prayer section where men and women from various Jewish denominations could pray together.

Netanyahu is accused of capitulating under pressure from Orthodox Jewish leaders in Israel who have tremendous sway over Jewish identity including conversion to Judaism. In professing to be a state for the Jewish people, Israel has further boosted their power and influence by granting orthodox Rabbis the final say over who is and who isn’t a member of that nation.

This feature of the Israeli state places the country in a league of its own. No other state claiming to be a democracy has instituted a religious body and a chief Rabbinate to determine the key characteristics of the state including who has access to full rights and privileges granted by the secular institutions of the state.

The letter was sent to Netanyahu following his decision earlier this week not to meet with Jewish leaders during a visit to New York in a fortnight. They called on Netanyahu to show leadership and to fulfil his promise to them that “Israel will be the homeland of the entire Jewish people – Reform, Conservative, Orthodox and secular.”

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The decision by the Rabbis to take this unprecedented step seems to follow controversial remarks by the former Chief Rabbi of Israel who was reported on Wednesday by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz as having described reform Jews as being worse than Holocaust deniers, for wanting an “egalitarian” prayer space. Rabbi Shlomo Amar also said that they wanted to “desecrate the holy site” not pray.

In the letter signed by 597 rabbis, representing 417 institutions, the Jewish leaders wrote: “We find it unconscionable that Israel, the Jewish State, is the only democratic state in the world in which not all Jews are recognised or supported equally under the law or in the public square.”