Dear IDI Friends and Supporters,

A monumental bill will come before the Knesset tomorrow, December 15. This critical piece of legislation would authorize the Chief Rabbi of the Israeli Defense Forces to approve conversions to Judaism on behalf of the State of Israel. With encouragement from IDI, the IDF has emerged in recent years as an important alternative center for conversion in Israel. To date, almost 5,000 soldiers have undergone conversion under IDF auspices in a procedure that is Orthodox but more welcoming and expeditious than that performed by the conversion courts run by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel.

The IDF conversion authority, however, currently requires a seal of approval for its conversions from the Chief Rabbinate. And the Rabbinate, which has already demonstrated its ability to disqualify conversions retroactively, has recently cast doubts about the validity of the conversions performed in the IDF. Accordingly, this bill has important consequences both for the future relationship between religion and state in Israel and for Israel-Diaspora relations.

Last week, IDI's Vice President for Research, Professor Yedidia Stern, penned an article entitled "The Chief Rabbi vs. The Israel Defense Forces?!" for the Hebrew daily Yediot Achronot analyzing this important issue. We hope that you will take a moment to read about this historic legislation.

Warm regards from Jerusalem,

Barak Cohen

The Israel Democracy Institute

 Find out more about IDI's efforts to address the conversion crisis in Israel.