Israel's Chief Rabbi Backs Off Appointing More Conversion Court Judges

In Israel, the ongoing battle over conversions to Judaism and the staffing of the government's conversion courts continues. Haaretz reports today that Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar has backed off his agreement to appoint more judges to conversion courts. A year ago, a committee headed by Absorption Ministry Director General Erez Halfon recommended the increase in order to ease the backlog of conversions. After delays in approval of the report by the government, finally two weeks ago Amar indicated his agreement and even sent letters to 22 appointees. However the current 25 judges of religious courts filed an objection with the Civil Service Commission, and Amar refused to finally approve the new judges. Critics say the current judges' objections stem from their concern about loss of income. They are paid for each court session they hold. This often leads to their holding more than one court session to approve a conversion. New judges would cut down the number of cases handled by current judges, and would reduce their income.