Jerusalem - Liberal Jewish groups won a landmark victory in Israel yesterday when a judge ordered authorities to recognise conversions performed by their rabbis as legal.
Members of the Orthodox establishment, which has an iron grip on Israel's religious institutions, decried the ruling and vowed to pass legislation quickly that will guarantee their sole right to perform conversions. The court ruled in favour of 23 petitioners who were converted to Judaism by Reform and Conservative rabbis instead of the Orthodox clergy, who adhere more strictly to religious traditions.