ISRAEL: Conversion bill rattles relations with U.S. Jews and Israeli politics

From LATimes.com:

A bill proposing (among other things) that control of conversions to Judaism be given to the country’s chief rabbinate, an orthodox body, is causing political controversy in Israel and threatening a big family feud outside it.

The question of “who is a Jew” has been asked—and avoided—since Israel’s inception. The interesting religious issue has practical civic repercussions in Israel, which passed the “Law of Return” in 1950. In a nutshell, it determined that anyone entering Israel as a Jew would be entitled to immediate citizenship.

Read the full story at LATimes.com.