The reforms have sparked protests and outrage.
The Associated Press
“For many years no change or reform regarding religious services was carried out whatsoever,” said Shuki Friedman, vice president of the Jewish People Policy Institute, a Jerusalem think tank, who helped draft one of the reforms. “Now there is a government that is succeeding to change that.” Challenging the rabbinate's authority could “break up the fabric of Jewish life in this country," said Rabbi Eliezer Simcha Weisz, a member of the chief rabbinate council, which determines religious standards and rules for Jewish Israelis.
Various attempts over the years to reform the rabbinate have failed, mostly because of political considerations. But the current make-up of the Israeli government, a constellation of ideologically disparate parties, appears to have found common ground over the religious reforms. With no ultra-Orthodox parties in the coalition, they have been able to pass one reform and plan to move ahead on the second one soon.
“I don’t like the way the rabbinate works. I don’t like the power they have. I think the combination between kosher rules and economics is breeding ground for something unsavory,” said Ariel Rosenthal, who owns Hakosem, a Middle Eastern street food restaurant in Tel Aviv.