After vigorous debate and despite the position of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice voted on Monday evening to pass the conversion bill authored by MK Elazar Stern (Hatnuah) for a second and third reading. Committee Chairman David Rotem (Yisrael Beytenu), Labor MKs Merav Michaeli and Moshe Mizrahi, Yesh Atid MKs Dov Lipman and Karin Alharar, as well as Stern voted in favor of the bill, which is designed to ease the process of converting to Judaism in Israel. MKs Yariv Levin (Likud), Uri Maklev (United Torah Judaism), Avraham Michaeli (Shas), and Orit Struck and Shuli Mualem-Rafaeli (Habayit Hayehudi) all voted nay. Justice Minister Tzipi Livni (Hatnuah) said that "anyone who didn't want the conversion bill in the cabinet got it in the Knesset. Anyone who goes back on agreements shouldn't be surprised when they get bill that serve our vision. It became clear the prime minister was violated his commitments to members of the coalition, so we worked together toward a better, more welcoming Judaism." In passing the first reading, the bill in effect went over Netanyahu's head. The prime minister had wanted to postpone the vote so its language could be softened before it was passed. The three members of the coalition -- Yesh Atid, Yisrael Beytenu, and Hatnuah -- cooperated to move the bill through the committee. During the committee debate, MK Moshe Gafni (United Torah Judaism) shouted, "What you're doing here is unforgiveable!" Labor MK Merav Michaeli attacked the representatives of the ultra-Orthodox parties, saying, "Judaism doesn't belong to the religious. Judaism belongs to the Jewish people." Sources in the religious Shas and Habayit Hayehudi parties were harshly critical that the bill passed and that Rotem refused to put off the vote for one day. Struck hinted that a deal had been made behind closed doors, under which the Arab MKs were absent from the vote. Stern said after the vote that "the big winners today are the new immigrants who will be able to convert to Judaism in a respectable manner, our kids who will marry them, the babies who haven't been born yet, and the Jewish people in the Diaspora." "These are huge tidings for the Jewish people. Thousands of Israelis can soon convert in a considerate, respectful Jewish way. This fixes a failure of values and morality," Stern said. Some in the Knesset believe that the bill will not be presented for second or third readings without another attempt being made to change its final wording. On Monday, Netanyahu gave an interview to the ultra-Orthodox radio station Kol Barama and said, "The haredi public is not pushed out of the coalition I head because I was the one who opposed bringing in one party [or another]. I think that what we need now is unity -- all parts of the people of Israel, all its factions." The prime minister added that "regarding the conversion bill, my intention was clear. I wanted to preserve unity, not create rifts."
