July 10, 2015

The International Rabbinic Fellowship, a Modern-Orthodox organization comprising close to 200 rabbis, communal scholars and clergy congratulates Prime Minister Netanyahu's swift and sharp rejection of the divisive and hurtful comments made by Religious Affairs Minister David Azoulay of the Shas Party about Reform Jews and their expression of Judaism.

We fully concur with the Prime Minister's sentiments that "Israel is a home for all Jews and that as minister of religious affairs, he serves all of Israel's citizens." 

We nonetheless remain concerned that recent moves by the government due to coalition agreements with Hareidi political parties such as the cancellation of the reforms in the Conversion Law undertaken in the last coalition government and the transfer of the rabbinical courts oversight from the Ministry of Justice to that of the Ministry of Religious Affairs will undercut the noble ideals that Prime Minister Netanyahu articulated this week.