Israel – A bill to bar the Reform and Conservative movements from using public mikvas, ritual baths, for conversion ceremonies was approved by the government on Sunday for passage to the Knesset.It is now set for its preliminary vote in the Knesset plenum this week.
The Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved the bill proposed by United Torah Judaism MK Moshe Gafni, and backed by several haredi MKs as well as four Bayit Yehudi MK, which is designed to circumvent a recent Supreme Court ruling allowing the non-Orthodox denominations to use public mikvas.
Deputy-Defense Minister Eli Ben-Dahan and Kulanu MK Rachel Azaria had both stated they were against 
approving the bill in its current form.
A compromise was reportedly reached whereby the coalition agreed to approve the bill in its preliminary Knesset reading, after which attempts will be made to reach an agreement on the matter within the government.
Ben-Dahan and Azaria have spoken only about preserving the relaxed regulations for women immersing in public mikvas established in the last government when Ben-Dahan ran the Religious Services Ministry as deputy minister.
The proposed legislation states that mikvaot may only be used in accordance with Jewish law as defined by the Shulchan Aruch, a 1563 codification of Jewish law by Rabbi Yosef Karo, and in accordance with the instructions of the Chief Rabbinate.
It stipulates that preventing someone from using a mikva in accordance with the proposed legislation “will not be considered a crime or a civil injustice” as determined by the Law against Discrimination in Products, Services, Entrance to Recreational Facilities or Public Places (2000).
Last month, the Supreme Court ruled that a policy by some local religious councils, which operate mikvas and other religious services, preventing the non-Orthodox Jewish denominations from using mikvas was discriminatory and illegal.
Gafni immediately drafted his legislation to circumvent the ruling.
“The Supreme Court ruled that public mikvas should respect all Jews… and behold the government decides to advance a bill which says to non-Orthodox Jews that their place isn’t here. Is there a more post-Zionist decision than this,” said Yizhar Hess, director of the Masorti (Conservative) Movement in Israel, in response to the decision.
Hess said that if the bill is approved in the Knesset plenum “it would mean the State of Israel has declared that it is divorcing itself from (Jewish) people in the diaspora.”
Rabbi Gilad Kariv, director of the Reform Movement in Israel, said that the government’s support for the bill would deepen arguments within Israeli society and the Jewish people.
“This is a bill which circumvents the Supreme Court and circumvents Israel’s basic laws, and which if approved would trample freedom of religion and conscience of Jewish Israelis and will deliver a stinging, negative message to Jews in the Diaspora,” said Kariv.