Agency demands Conversion Authority be more independent

Agency demands Conversion Authority be more independent
By HAVIV RETTIG
Controversy over a new State Conversion Authority is simmering on with
the Jewish Agency demanding this week that the government grant the new
authority greater independence from the Prime Minister's Office.
"The agency has been trying for more than 10 years to change the
conversion process in Israel, which is scandalous," explained agency
chairman Ze'ev Bielski. "The Jewish nation doesn't deserve a conversion
process like this."
The new authority was formally established by the government three weeks
ago, replacing the old authority of the same name. Conversion advisers,
more hands-on religious studies and new buildings for the conversion
court are all part of the reform.
The new authority was created to streamline the conversion process of
hundreds of thousands of non-Jewish olim who came to Israel as relatives
of Jews and, the government believes, wished to convert. About half of
the estimated 300,000 members of this group have expressed an interest
in converting, according to government officials, but most were turned
away from the process by stringent demands for religious observance and
an "unfriendly" bureaucratic environment. Only some 2,000 convert each
year.
The Jewish Agency's Board of Governors, which met in Jerusalem this
week, issued the call to the government after a vociferous debate in the
agency's Committee for the Unity of the Jewish People heard criticism
that the current s