Matan Kahana
Matan KahanaYonatan Sindel/Flash90

Religious Affairs Minister Matan Kahana (Yamina) intends to bring the Conversion Bill as a government decision in the next two weeks, Kan Reshet Bet reported Wednesday.

The purpose of the decision would be to allow the creation of a system allowing municipal rabbis to perform conversions, without enacting legislation on the matter, by means of a decision made by the government alone.

This decision was made following many conversations held between Kahana and Intelligence Minister Elazar Stern (Yesh Atid) and MK Yulia Malinovsky (Yisrael Beytenu). The decision was further spurred by the haredi parties' celebration after the decision had been made to delay the discussions on the bill by several months, and the understanding that the bill is a symbol of the battle between the coalition and opposition.

The conversion bill itself will be advanced during the next Knesset session, for the purpose of fortifying the government decision and making future cancellation of it more difficult. However, implementing the decision in practice will begin after the government approves the plan, reportedly in another two weeks.

Reshet Bet reported that not everyone in the coalition likes the content of the plan itself. Besides for opposition by the United Arab List (Ra'am), ministers from Labor and Yisrael Beytenu also expressed frustration at the plan's sections. At the same time, Transportation Minister Merav Michaeli (Labor) and Agriculture Minister Oded Forer (Yisrael Beytenu) harshly criticized the fact that the Kahana's plan leaves the Chief Rabbinate involved in the conversion process.

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