Israel OKs Visas for Family of Black Jews

An American family that converted to Conservative Judaism has received temporary Israeli visas after being refused entry into the Jewish state in another flare-up in the dispute between Israel’s Orthodox establishment and non-Orthodox Judaism.

Elezar Yisrael, his wife and six children arrived in Israel on May 12. After first being denied entry, they were given 30-day visas.

Under Israeli law, all people who convert to Judaism outside Israel have the right to automatic citizenship in Israel, as do all those who are born Jewish.

However, Israel’s Orthodox establishment has been battling the Conservative and Reform movements, which are fighting for legal parity in Israel, and the Yisraels have apparently become enmeshed in the conflict.

Andrew M. Sacks, an official with Israel’s Masorti (Conservative) movement, said the Israeli Interior Ministry, which handles immigration and is controlled by Orthodox politicians, “has no right to refuse converts from outside of Israel. They nonetheless have been doing so. This is especially so when they are of color.”

The Yisrael family is African American. Their conversion to Judaism was completed at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles, Sacks said in an e-mail to American Conservative Jewish officials.

Interior Ministry spokeswoman Tova Elinson said the Yisraels were allowed into Israel as tourists only. “No country in the world would give automatic citizenship to eight people at once,” she said. “They started their immigration in the United States, so it has to be finished there.”