A new Conversion Law proposed by Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beitenu party seeks to expand the number of Orthodox rabbis permitted to perform conversions. While the proposed law will make it easier for non-Jews to get Orthodox conversions in Israel, the political negotiations with the religious parties resulted in certain aspects of the law that would seriously damage the struggle for religious pluralism in Israel.

 "There is more than one way to be a Jew," says the placard as over 2,000 social change activists protested outside the Prime Minister's home in Jerusalem on Saturday night against gender discrimination in public places. The demonstration, funded by NIF, and attended by MKs from many parties and a wide range of organizations, came as the High Court of Justice prepares to rule on whether the growing number of gender segregated public bus lines are legal. View a collection of images from the demonstration here.

Veteran NIF grantee Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC) of the Movement for Progressive Judaism in Israel (Reform) has spearheaded a campaign to oppose the passage of the Conversion Law, because the law would, for the first time, enshrine in legislation that the Orthodox rabbinate in Israel has a monopoly on Jewish conversion.

In addition, the proposed legislation contains a clause mandating that non-Orthodox conversion in Israel will no longer automatically provide for Israeli citizenship, and that only Jews from birth, their descendants, and those who have non-Orthodox conversions abroad will be eligible under the Law of Return. This clause would override a Supreme Court ruling several years ago instructing the Ministry of Interior to recognize Reform and Conservative conversions performed in Israel.

IRAC has intensively lobbyed Knesset Members to make them aware of the anti-pluralist implications of the Conversion Law, and has briefed Israeli journalists on the issue. The NIF family asked supporters to send e-mails and faxes to the Prime Minister, key governmental ministers and MKs, voicing their opposition to the Law.

Veteran NIF grantee Masorati (Conservative) Movement in Israel wrote to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, "We are turning to you to request that you bring the full weight of your authority to ensure that the proposed law, in its present formulation, will not pass. The proposal as phrased is liable to cause severe harm to the status of male and female converts who are not Orthodox. We call on you to prevent another crisis that may lead to tension between Israel and North American Jewry."

The letter added, "The use of this proposed law  represents an intolerable and severely harmful opportunistic move against the foundation of relations between the government of Israel and the various Jewish groups, in particular the non-Orthodox movements, that represent the majority of Jewry in our times."

If passed, the proposed law will eradicate several decades of achievement by the NIF family, which culminated in 2004 when the Supreme Court instructed the Ministry of Interior to recognize Israelis who have undergone Reform and Conservative conversions in Israel as Jews.