Israel’s Attorney General Claims Restrictive Mikveh Bill Violates Basic Rights
JERUSALEM (JTA) — A bill that would bar Conservative and Reform conversions from public ritual baths violates Israeli constitutional law, the country’s attorney general said.
On Sunday, Avichai Mandelblit submitted a legal opinion to the government in which he said the bill violates several basic rights, including to freedom of religion, human dignity and equality, Haaretz reported. The bill passed a first reading in the Knesset last week.
The haredi Orthodox United Torah Judaism faction proposed the measure, which has received support from the haredi Shas party and some members of the religious Zionist Jewish Home party.
The measure aims to override a Supreme Court decision in February mandating that the ritual baths, or mikvahs, be open to Conservative and Reform conversions. Along with prohibiting that practice, the bill also may require that women immerse under the supervision of a mikvah attendant to ensure it is conducted according to Orthodox Jewish law.
Changes likely will be made to the bill before it is brought to the Knesset for its second and third readings.
In its current state, the bill even if it passed would likely be struck down by Israel’s Supreme Court.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.
If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.
Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO