After 20 years of legal dispute, non-Jewish children in the Israeli child services system will no longer be prioritized for Orthodox Jewish families over non-Orthodox families so that they can undergo Orthodox conversion, the High Court of Justice said on Sunday.
Non-Orthodox families will be able to adopt non-Jewish children more easily, as adoption standards will be a case-by-case basis “in the best interest of the child,” said the court. The state agreed to the new standard.
“The child’s best interests include their concrete needs, past, characteristics and difficulties,” read the statement.
The result of a protracted battle in the Israeli courts
The decision by nine justices came in response to a protracted battle over a 20-year-old petition submitted by the Reform Movement’s Legal Aid Center for Olim (LACO) against standards set by child services.
State services reportedly believed by the state that the best interest of the child was served by an Orthodox Jewish conversion, which it was argued would allow them to avoid difficulties later in life such as religious marriage. The court said that it did not see “eye-to-eye” with the state on the standard.
A MOTHER with her baby: Jewish women in Israel have three children on average, exceeding the norm in other developed countries. (credit: NATI SHOHAT/FLASH90)The 1981 Child Adoption Law required religious compatibility between the child and parents, and the opinion of the child. Optimally, children would be adopted by parents of the same religion, but adoptions among different populations were possible but subject to court approval.
LACO said that parents who wished to adopt a non-Jewish child were referred to the government conversion system, but to get onto the waiting list were required to keep kosher, keep Shabbat, and commit to providing a religious education. Same-sex couples were disqualified.
The case was in large part delayed due to other petitions regarding the validity of conversions through non-orthodox denominations.
The Reform Movement’s LACO welcomed the court’s decision, but said that it was unfortunate that it took two decades to change the policy.
“We welcome the fact that after many years the Welfare Ministry has agreed to cancel the discriminatory and inappropriate child services policy, which gave priority to orthodox families in adopting children,” said LACO director Nicole Maor. “Allowing the possibility of conversion within recognized Jewish communities will expand the number of parent able to adopt and create more successful matches between adopted [kids] and adopting [families].”
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