Deri: Court’s ruling on conversions ‘a mortal blow to Israel’s Jewish character’

1 March 2021, 6:19 pm

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Shas leader Aryeh Deri says the High Court’s recognition of non-Orthodox conversions to Judaism for the purposes of the Law of Return constitutes “a mortal blow to the Jewish character of the state” and the “complete demolition of the status quo [on religious affairs in Israel] that has been upheld for over 70 years.”

Interior Minister Aryeh Deri in the Knesset building, on March 3, 2020. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Shas says the ruling underlines the court’s disconnect from the majority of the Israeli people, “who want to maintain the Jewish state and preserve Judaism according to traditions that go back thousands of years.”

The ultra-Orthodox party vows to initiate legislation to overturn the court’s ruling, and also to support legislation that will prevent the court from intervening in such matters in the future.