Bennett bashes bench rabbis for blacklisting Lookstein

Education Minister Naftali Bennett denounces the Supreme Rabbinical Court for refusing to accept a conversion made by an Orthodox US rabbi, calling it an “own goal” for Israel-Diaspora ties and urging the rabbis to publish a list of criteria for rabbis they will accept in the name of clarity.

“The Rabbinical Court’s refusal to recognize the conversion of Rabbi Lookstein is a disgrace of God’s name and a threat to the future of the Jewish People,” says Bennett, who heads the national religious Jewish Home party.

On Wednesday, the court cast doubt over a conversion performed by Haskel Lookstein, a prominent New York rabbi, forcing a woman who sought to get married to undergo an expedited repeat conversion under their auspices, in a case that has drawn high profile protests.

“For dozens of years Rabbi Lookstein has stood on the frontlines, lovingly connecting people to Jewish tradition. Instead of listening to the chief rabbis, who acknowledged and accepted Rabbi Lookstein and his work, the Rabbinical Court disgraced them,” Bennett says.

“We are working to strengthen the ties with Jews in the Diaspora. This arbitrary move against a well-known Orthodox rabbi is an own goal, hurting the rabbinate and risking Israel’s standing as a homeland for all Jews,” he adds.