At a meeting of the Knesset Immigration and Absorption
Committee on 20 Sivan, Director of Rabbinical Courts Eli Ben
Dahan reported that about 4000 conversions have been
performed annually since the beginning of 2000. This is in
contrast to the mere 340 conversions that took place in
1990.
Yosef Rozen, director of the conversion "ulpanim" and
head of the division of the Immigration and Absorption
Ministry dealing with conversions in the IDF, said that 1000
immigrants from the former Soviet Union have currently
registered for conversion, 80% of them women.
Throughout the deliberation, Knesset members and others
complained that the conversion "ulpanim" and other
conversion facilities are severely under-funded. The
Absorption Committee plans to prepare a proposal for
increased subsidy of IDF conversion facilities.
MK Rabbi Moshe Gafni said that he plans to check whether
people who lack understanding of the conversion issue but
seek facile solutions are attempting to achieve their aims
by going through the back door. He noted that the startling
growth in the number of non-Jews who have been converted
since 2000 in contrast to preceding years must be
explained.
