FEATURED JOBS
Comments (0)The conversions to Judaism of perhaps thousands of Israeli soldiers that were performed by the military rabbinate are not valid, a state attorney said.
The conversions are invalid, the state prosecutor told Israel’s Supreme Court justices on Monday, because they were not approved by the Chief Rabbinate and often were conducted by rabbis who are not recognized as religious court judges.
The conversion documents provided through the Israeli military only apply in cases of legal matters where the holder must be Jewish, but they cannot be used to register for a Jewish marriage, the attorney explained.
The statements were made during a court hearing to address the refusal by town and city rabbis to register converts for marriage. About 4,500 soldiers, the majority of them women, have converted to Judaism while in the military.
“The conversions are implemented precisely according to all the rules of halachah, and the rabbinic judges in the IDF are fully authorized to carry out conversions,” Rabbi Haim Druckman, who served as head of the state’s Conversion Authority until 2008, told Army Radio Tuesday morning. “All of the soldiers who converted to Judaism in the IDF are real Jews.”
Kassam Fired from Gaza Hits Sderot
Sderot residents were awakened in the middle of the night when a rocket fired from Gaza exploded at the city limits.
The Kassam rocket fired from Gaza struck at 2 a.m. Tuesday. It was the second rocket fired by Hamas terrorists in Gaza to hit southern Israel since the beginning of direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
Tuesday morning’s rocket landed in an open field near the Sderot city limits. A rocket fired Saturday exploded in an open field in the western Negev.
Abbas Says He Won’t Compromise on Core Issues
Mahmoud Abbas said he will not compromise during peace negotiations on core issues such as final borders and the status of Jerusalem.
The Palestinian Authority president also said in an interview with the Jerusalem-based Al-Quds newspaper that he rejects Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s demand that he recognize Israel as a Jewish state. He said the issue is a ploy by Netanyahu to deny Israeli Arabs the right of return to their former homes in Israel.
Meanwhile, Abbas told reporters late Monday that he has asked the United States “to intervene on the settlement issue” and prevent Netanyahu from lifting a 10-month freeze on construction in the West Bank.
Israel has said it will not extend the freeze, which is scheduled to end Sept. 26, though it may only lift the freeze in settlement blocs that are likely to remain with Israel in a final peace deal. Abbas has said he will quit the peace negotiations if the freeze does not remain in place.