Deri: Reform, Conservative are ‘not our Judaism’

Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, being grilled by Knesset members during a “Question Time” session, says he doesn’t consider Reform Jews to be true members of his faith.

“I agree with you that Reform and Conservative Jews are our brothers but I think they are causing terrible damage to Judaism,” the head of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party says after MK Elazar Stern (Zionist Union) asks if he feels OK about pushing away Jews.

Deri describes hearing about Jews who had a get-together on Yom Kippur, when religious Jews refrain from eating and drinking and most of the country refrains from using cars, with “a trampoline and drinks and food for the kids and people came in cars.”

“That’s the Judaism we want to keep? That is not our Judaism,” he says, before asking if they pray at the Western Wall, where non-Orthodox Jews have pushed against the ultra-Orthodox establishment for greater religious rights. “This is a political, an ideological debate. ​We wo​n’​t let them destroy what we have built for 2,000 years.”

As interior minister, Deri is in charge of deciding which Jews are allowed to immigrate to Israel under the Law of Return and who can take part in life cycle events.

In February, Deri reportedly refused to meet Reform Jewish leaders in France. He and other ultra-Orthodox politicians vowed to not recognize Reform Jewry and pushed against a plan that would create an egalitarian prayer section at the Western Wall.

— with Raoul Wootliff