Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel Yitzhak Yosef has welcomed the approval of a law to place authority over conversions to Judaism solely in the hands of the Chief Rabbinate.
Rabbi Yosef said, "We welcome the government decision initiated by Minister of the Interior, Rabbi Aryeh Deri, to act to regulate the issue of conversion according to Torah law alone. It is inconceivable that non-Orthodox conversions and unregulated private conversions will be recognized here in Israel."