Reform converts petition High Court over citizenship
By Relly Sa'ar
Fri., Jan 21,  2005

[ From: IRAC IN THE NEWS Summary ]
Two Reform converts from Canada petitioned the High Court of Justice last Thursday against what they term discrimination against converts seeking citizenship.

The Law of Return makes no distinction between converts and people who were born Jewish, entitling both to instant Israeli citizenship. But the Interior Ministry does make such a distinction, the petition noted: Despite the law, the ministry will not grant citizenship to someone who converted overseas unless he has lived for at least a year in the community where he converted.

This rule was introduced by former attorney general Elyakim Rubinstein, who feared that otherwise, Third World residents would undergo quickie overseas conversions in order to immigrate to Israel.

P.G., a 38-year-old city planner, and his homosexual partner P.P., a 37-year-old computer programmer, moved to Israel a year ago after completing a Reform conversion in Montreal and are active in Harel, a Reform congregation in Jerusalem. They filed the petition because the ministry has been ignoring their citizenship applications for months.

"The supreme test of Judaism is living in Israel," argued P.G. "It is impossible to live a full Jewish life in Canada, and it seemed to me that if I played an active role in the life of the Reform community in Israel, I would be better able to prove my commitment to the Jewish people."

Both men have paid a heavy price for this decision: Without citizenship, they cannot work in their professions, and their savings have run out. Thus, if they do not receive legal status, they said, they will be forced to return to Canada.

P.G., who arrived here last February and was joined by P.P. in May, cannot understand the ministry's position. "I feel humiliated and rejected," he said.

Rabbi Uri Regev, who heads the international Reform Movement, warned that the ministry's position could also damage relations between Israel and the Jews of North America, where the Reform Movement has many adherents. "Disqualifying the conversion that this couple underwent for the purpose of recognizing their Jewishness under the Law of Return is like disqualifying Reform Judaism altogether," he said.

The petition, which was filed on the couple's behalf by the Reform Movement's Israel Religious Action Center, elicited an immediate response: That same day, the ministry's legal department submitted their case to newly appointed Interior Minister Ophir Pines-Paz, who decided to immediately grant them temporary residency, which will enable them to work while their citizenship applications are being reviewed.

Speaking to Haaretz, Pines-Paz expressed surprise that IRAC representatives with whom he met last Wednesday had not raised the case with him, noting that he told them at that meeting that he intended to review the overseas residency requirement for converts.

However, he stressed that this requirement is not aimed only at Reform converts: It applies equally to Orthodox and Conservative conversions.
 

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