In the wake of the recent election, Israel may be transcending its decades-old culture war between religious and secular.
Images from the May 16 demonstration in Jerusalem showed a black sea of anti-Zionist haredi men dressed in traditional suits and head coverings, pouring out their anger against the country’s security forces; they were protesting government policy to pursue plans to draft yeshiva students and cut their public subsidies.
In another move toward recognition of non-Orthodox Jewish movements, the Religious Services Ministry announced Thursday that it plans to abolish the institution of state-appointed neighborhood rabbis. Instead, financial support will be given to 
communities that request it for rabbis of their own choice, including non-Orthodox ones.
Praise for Deputy Minister for Religious Affairs Eli Ben-Dahan by Reform and Conservative movements turns into condemnation after he clarifies that non-Orthodox Jews cannot use state-sponsored mikvehs for purpose of conversion.
Earlier praise for Deputy Minister for Religious Affairs Eli Ben-Dahan by non-Orthodox circles in Israel has rapidly shifted to condemnation, following his partial retraction of an earlier statement that he would permit immersion in state-sponsored mikvehs (Jewish ritual baths) by Jews of all denominations.
