Under the leadership of new chairman Gilad Kariv, the Knesset Immigration, Absorption, and Diaspora Affairs Committee will be “the home for non-Orthodox communities,” he told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday.
Kariv, who is also a Reform rabbi, said the coalition agreements signed at the formation of the current government involved “extreme” interpretations of the country’s Jewish character and Zionist values.
The committee’s role is to challenge the government, and The Democrats MK intends to do so, including on issues of religion and state that affect the Diaspora. According to Kariv, these include conversion and “who is a Jew,” civil burial, and public transportation on Shabbat.
He placed a specific emphasis on the treatment of olim from the former Soviet Union countries. The government’s coalition agreements proved that it preferred Aliyah from Western countries since many of the olim from the former Soviet Union are not Jewish according to Halacha, he said.
For example, “ultra-conservative” Noam MK Avi Maoz was given control over Nativ, the independent administrative unit within the Prime Minister’s Office responsible for ties to Jews in the FSU.
Committee to examine activity to encourage Aliyah
In addition, the chairman said his committee will examine whether Israel’s activity to encourage aliyah was equally directed at Diaspora Jews of all denominations. He also said the committee would examine the government’s connections to far-right European parties, some of which have antisemitic or xenophobic foundations.
The committee would also examine the issue of people emigrating from Israel, which Kariv said the government was not concerned about. The emigration numbers are “very concerning,” from “differing population groups,” and also included new olim who turned around and went back to their home countries soon after making aliyah.
He also hopes to encourage Israelis living abroad to eventually return and not settle abroad permanently.
“We are at a time where whoever opens their eyes understands the connection between the issues of aliyah and absorption, emigration from the country, and the relationship with the Diaspora to the central trends of the current government,” he said.
The struggle is not just over Israeli democracy but also over the meaning of what it means to be a Jewish country, he said.
“From my perspective, the [Knesset] Constitution Committee and the Immigration Committee complement each other,” Kariv said. “In the Constitution Committee, I fight for Israeli democracy, and in the Immigration, Absorption, and Diaspora Committee, I fight for the State of Israel’s Judaism in the spirit of the Declaration of Independence.”