Israel Religious Action Center

IRAC provides free legal assistance and counseling to new immigrants on personal-status issues.[7] Its litigation and advocacy connect the position of Reform and Conservative Judaism in Israel with broader questions of access to public services, equal treatment, and the relationship between religious institutions and state authority.[1][8]

The organization's stated mission includes opposing religious extremism and gender segregation in public spaces, combating racism, advancing a shared society between Jews and Arabs, and seeking equal status for all streams of Judaism.[1] Its agenda has also included opposition to anti-democratic legislation and challenges to policies and benefits that it considers obstacles to ultra-Orthodox participation in employment.[1] Under Rabbi Noa Sattath, its social-change strategies addressed separation of religion and state, women's rights, and the struggle against racism.[9]

Also known as the Center for Religion and State, IRAC has offices with the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism in the archaeology building of Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem.[10] It belongs to a wider movement whose Israeli institutions included 54 communities, schools, a youth movement, and a pre-military academy in a 2024 account.[2] Beyond litigation, IRAC has participated in efforts to build understanding between religious groups and between religious and secular Jewish communities, alongside organizations such as Tag Meir, Hiddush, the Abraham Fund Initiative, and Neve Shalom-Wahat al-Salam.[6]

Sources differ on the founding year. A history by Rabbi Naamah Kelman dates the center to 1986, while a 2012 account marking its quarter-century points to 1987.[4][5] It developed as the Reform movement's public and legal advocacy organization.[2] Its early Hebrew name was “Hamercaz le’Pluralizim,” or “Center for Pluralism,” before it became known in Hebrew as the Center for Religion and State.[4] The unfamiliar original name sometimes prompted callers to contact the organization about medical ailments or public-safety concerns.[4] Early advocacy promoted Liberal Judaism and religious choice for non-Orthodox Jews, including Supreme Court proceedings involving marriage, burial, and conversion.[4]

Rabbi Uri Regev founded the organization and headed it for 15 years, while Anat Hoffman became executive director in 2002.[11] In 2022, Hoffman described her own tenure as extending over two decades.[11] Rabbi Noa Sattath also held a leadership position, directing the center's staff and developing its social-change strategies.[9] After 11 years leading IRAC's staff and strategy, Sattath became executive director of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel in November 2021.[9][12] The Reform movement's 2012 annual conference marked a quarter-century since the center's establishment among its institutional milestones.[5]

Supreme Court petitions became an important instrument in the organization's pursuit of recognition for non-Orthodox Judaism.[4][8] In 1995, IRAC won a precedent-setting case enabling people who underwent non-Orthodox conversions in Israel to be registered as Jewish by the Ministry of Interior registrar.[8] That decision concerned registration rather than a change in personal-status rights.[8] A further victory in 2005 secured recognition under the Law of Return for “leaping converts,” who studied for conversion in Israel but completed the process abroad.[8]

The center's legal work also extended to public funding, with a 2002 petition leading to a December 2004 Supreme Court ruling requiring new criteria for state support of Jewish cultural activities.[13] Litigation concerning synagogue construction, conversion education, and salaries for non-Orthodox community rabbis subsequently addressed additional aspects of public recognition and material support.[8][14]

IRAC's free legal aid for immigrants addresses personal-status problems as well as the consequences of administrative decisions affecting residence and citizenship.[7][15] It represented people who immigrated with Jewish spouses and later faced loss of citizenship after divorce, successfully obtaining the reversal of some Interior Ministry decisions and blocking some removals.[15] Its work has also included assistance to women facing possible expulsion after a spouse's death, children facing deportation, and Reform and Conservative converts seeking Israeli identity cards.[11]

Registration litigation continued after the 1995 precedent. A 2002 Supreme Court decision required registration of Reform converts as Jewish in the population registry, a matter distinct from eligibility for citizenship under the Law of Return.[16][17] In 2005, a court order required the Interior Ministry to develop criteria for acceptable non-Orthodox conversions.[16] Nicole Maor, an IRAC lawyer specializing in immigrant legal assistance, worked in this field.[16]

In May 2009, the High Court ruled on an IRAC petition that the government, which supported private conversion schools, also had to fund private conversion classes operated by the Reform and Conservative movements.[18] In March 2021, the Supreme Court ruled that Reform conversions performed in Israel qualified for citizenship under the Law of Return, concluding a campaign associated with the center that had lasted more than three decades.[17] The proceedings followed petitions by people who had immigrated to Israel, converted through Reform processes, and sought recognition under that law.[17]

IRAC and the Masorti Movement also initiated a 2009 petition seeking state-funded circumcision for men undergoing non-Orthodox conversion.[19] In 2023, the High Court ruled that state funding of circumcision for converts must operate on principles of equality and respect for religious freedom, extending eligibility to men recognized as having completed non-Orthodox conversions.[17][19]

Adoption formed another area of legal intervention.[13] In 2003, IRAC challenged the Adoption Service's practice of placing non-Jewish Israeli children only in Orthodox Jewish homes when no family of the child's religion was willing to adopt.[13] Its representatives said officials required conversion before finalizing those adoptions.[13] The law required an adopted child and adoptive parents to share a religion, while the government argued that the practice avoided subsequent uncertainty over the children's Jewish status.[20] In December 2004, the High Court ordered the government to justify the practice; the case remained pending at the end of the reporting period.[20]

In July 2021, IRAC and Fathers for Pride petitioned on behalf of two same-sex couples seeking access to adoption in Israel.[21] The Adoption Law then allowed only “a man and his wife together” to adopt healthy children in Israel.[21] One petitioner couple had adopted a daughter in the United States and sought to adopt a sibling for her in Israel.[21] The petition challenged the exclusion of same-sex couples as discriminatory and sought a change in the legal framework.[21]

IRAC estimated in the mid-2000s that Orthodox organizations received approximately 97 percent of public funding for Jewish cultural and educational activities, although non-Orthodox institutions accounted for approximately 20 percent of Jewish cultural activities.[13] Its 2002 petition on funding produced the December 2004 Supreme Court requirement that the government establish new allocation criteria.[13]

In Modi'in, IRAC petitioned in 2003 on behalf of a Reform congregation after the municipality had funded eight Orthodox synagogues but no Reform or Conservative synagogues.[13] The High Court ruled that public money could support a Reform synagogue and ordered equal-treatment criteria for municipal funding decisions.[13] When the request stalled, IRAC sought another hearing and a freeze on municipal synagogue-construction allocations until the requests could be considered.[13] The organization subsequently secured state funding for six non-Orthodox synagogues, and in 2008 the Reform movement dedicated Israel's first government-funded non-Orthodox synagogue in Modi'in.[8]

A separate campaign concerned Rabbi Miri Gold of Kibbutz Gezer.[8] IRAC petitioned the Supreme Court seeking permission for Gezer to pay its Reform rabbi on the same basis as Orthodox rabbis.[8][14] Gold served many residents and had municipal council recognition, while the region's 15 other rabbis, all Orthodox men, received government salaries.[8] The resulting precedent opened state funding for salaries of Reform and Conservative spiritual leaders in rural communities.[11][14] These payments were administered through the Ministry of Culture and Sports rather than the Ministry of Religious Services and did not constitute government employment.[14]

IRAC also represented Kehilat Yonatan, an independent progressive congregation in Hod Hasharon, in proceedings over construction of a synagogue and education center.[22] The Lod District Court ordered the municipality to stop delaying construction on land allocated in 2013 and to pay approximately $8,500 in legal fees.[22] The congregation had first requested synagogue land 15 years before the report.[22]

Funding for pluralistic Jewish activities in secular schools became another sustained concern after the government cancelled that funding in 2019.[23] On April 7, 2021, the Supreme Court ruled that previously granted funding had to be reexamined.[23] IRAC maintained that subsequent Education Ministry actions attempted to continue a policy the court had rejected, and it reported that the activities still received no government funding during 2022.[23][24]

In January 2024, IRAC petitioned over funding and oversight of ultra-Orthodox exempt schools, arguing that the schools lacked regulations permitting state funding and did not provide the required core curriculum to the required extent.[25] It sought effective oversight and an end to additional support allocated through 2024 coalition funds.[25] The State Attorney's Office acknowledged that effective oversight was lacking and that regulations had not been installed since 2019.[25] The petition linked oversight to pupils' equality, education, and preparation for employment, as well as the position of pupils in official schools.[25]

Religious-service regulation also featured in IRAC's representation of two Jerusalem restaurants penalized for presenting themselves as kosher without Chief Rabbinate certification.[26] The attorney general subsequently said the government would stop fining restaurants for private kosher certification and cancel the two restaurants' existing fines.[26] Alternative certification had to be clearly distinguished from the Chief Rabbinate's, and restaurants could not advertise themselves simply as “kosher.”[26]

IRAC's campaign against gender segregation on public transport combined petitions with organized “Freedom Rides” supporting women's ability to choose their seats.[27] In 2009, the organization and novelist Naomi Ragen petitioned against segregated mehadrin bus lines.[28] A Transport Ministry committee told the court that enforced segregation discriminated against and humiliated passengers, and that public transport companies should neither operate segregated lines nor enforce separation.[28] The committee distinguished such arrangements from segregation reflecting all passengers' wishes on private services.[28]

Legal action involving IRAC and Kolech, the Religious Women's Forum, resulted in gender segregation on buses being made illegal.[29] Buses displayed notices that women could choose where to sit, and a 2014 account reported fewer than 50 segregated lines remaining, compared with more than 150 in 2011.[29] Freedom Rides helped support women and identify drivers who failed to enforce open seating after the court order.[27] The center also collected accounts and letters from ultra-Orthodox women who did not feel safe speaking publicly within their communities.[27]

In 2016, IRAC represented Renee Rabinowitz, an 81-year-old retired lawyer, after a December 2015 Newark–Ben Gurion flight on which she said a flight attendant moved her because an ultra-Orthodox passenger refused to sit beside a woman.[30] Her lawyers sought NIS 50,000, while El Al offered a $200 discount on a future flight.[30] In 2017, the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court ruled that airline staff requests for women to change seats under such circumstances were discriminatory and awarded NIS 6,500 to the elderly passenger.[3]

Together with the Israel Women's Network, IRAC represented Maya Melitz after she said a railway employee repeatedly asked her to move because men were praying in her carriage.[31][32] The suit sought NIS 66,969, written instructions, and staff training.[31] A June 2022 court-approved settlement provided NIS 16,000 compensation, without an admission of the allegations.[32] Israel Railways and its guard contractor agreed to issue explicit instructions prohibiting employees and service providers from directing passengers to change seats even when prayers were taking place.[32]

IRAC also brought a class action for Kolech against Kol Barama, an ultra-Orthodox radio station that refused to broadcast women between 2009 and 2011.[29][33] The Jerusalem District Court imposed a NIS 1 million penalty in 2018.[33] After IRAC and Kolech sought a twentyfold increase and Supreme Court justices criticized the request as disproportionate, the parties withdrew their appeals, ending the case without an increase.[33] Other litigation challenged the exclusion of women from delivering funeral eulogies.[29]

The center's anti-discrimination assistance extended to Sammy Kanter, a Hebrew Union College student refused service at a Jerusalem pizzeria after an employee asked whether he was gay and he answered yes.[34] With IRAC's assistance, Kanter sought NIS 33,500; a small-claims judge ruled in his favor and ordered nearly $5,000 in damages.[34]

IRAC lawyers Orly Erez-Likhovski, Meital Arbel, and Uri Nerov filed a 2019 appeal seeking to disqualify Baruch Marzel and Benzi Gopstein from the upcoming Knesset election.[35] The Supreme Court disqualified both for incitement to racism, ruling unanimously against Gopstein and by a majority against Marzel.[35] It rejected the appeals against Itamar Ben-Gvir and the Otzma Yehudit list as a whole.[35]

A separate 2017 IRAC petition sought criminal charges against Gopstein, the leader of Lehava.[6] Following a pre-indictment hearing in 2018, the Jerusalem district attorney indicted him on November 26, 2019, for incitement to terrorism, violence, and racism.[6] IRAC and Tag Meir were also among the organizations that petitioned in 2016 over alleged racist and offensive statements by Safed Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu.[6] An injunction in 2018 required the government to explain why it had not held a disciplinary hearing, and a Supreme Court hearing was scheduled for early 2020.[6]

In 2020, IRAC complained about Chief Rabbi Yosef's negative statements concerning the Reform movement, women, and the High Court of Justice.[36] The judicial ombudsman recommended convening the committee responsible for appointing rabbinic judges to consider whether Yosef should continue as president of the rabbinical court; Yosef stood behind his remarks.[36] On June 10 that year, IRAC and Women of the Wall separately petitioned for a disciplinary hearing concerning Rabbi David Yosef of Jerusalem's Har Nof neighborhood, following statements they alleged disparaged and incited against Women of the Wall.[36] David Yosef announced his retirement on May 4, 2021, following the petition; his public-service position was subject to civil-service regulations.[23]

The organization also joined Tamar Zandberg, Israel Hofshit, Hiddush, and others in a 2016 petition seeking Sabbath public transport.[37] They requested a comprehensive needs survey and services on days of rest, including routes for hospital travelers, border communities, and non-Jewish communities.[37] In September 2017, the petitioners accepted the justices' suggestion to withdraw while reserving their rights, because no bus operator had joined the case and operators were expected to seek case-by-case consideration.[37] IRAC legal-department director Orly Erez-Likhovski said the petitioners intended to proceed through an operator.[37]

The center's legal record spans recognition of conversion, funding for non-Orthodox institutions, protection against gender discrimination, and challenges to racist incitement.[8][35] Its work has combined individual representation with proceedings seeking changes in rules governing public services and religious institutions.[7][11] Participation in interreligious and religious-secular dialogue has accompanied that legal activity.[6][24]

In a 2022 account of its achievements, IRAC described establishing Israel's first help center for victims of racism, preventing racist candidates from standing in Knesset elections, and appearing in court approximately 60 times a year.[11] That account also cited a NIS 65,000 El Al payment in a women's-discrimination matter and efforts to remove gender barriers on buses and at cemetery eulogies.[11] Its assistance encompassed immigrants, migrants, refugees, religious minorities, and Reform and Conservative Jews.[11]

IRAC's advocacy has engaged major disagreements over the Orthodox Rabbinate's authority, religious pluralism, and who determines Jewish status.[4] Recognition of Reform conversions under the Law of Return drew public opposition from the Chief Rabbinate, which opposed recognition of non-Orthodox Jewish movements.[17]

At the Western Wall, IRAC represented petitioners seeking implementation of the 2016 agreement for a permanent mixed-gender prayer plaza administered by non-Orthodox groups, with a shared entrance to prayer spaces.[38] During the dispute in 2017, the Reform movement stopped meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Tzachi Hanegbi, saying it did not want the government to present those meetings as efforts resolving the crisis.[39] Implementation remained pending at the end of 2023, and IRAC maintained that successive governments had failed to take even minimal implementation steps since 2020.[38]