[JURIST] The Cabinet of Israel [official website] approved a new law Sunday enabling easier conversion to Judaism. Under the new law [AFP report], the chief rabbi of each Israeli city would be able to form and lead a conversion court governed by rules to be promulgated by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel [official website, in Hebrew]. Prior to the newly passed conversion reform law, there were only four government approved conversion courts in the country. The change is expected to have a major impact on the 364,000 individuals classified by the Israeli government as “religionless,” a majority of whom are immigrants from the former Soviet Union. These immigrants are Israeli citizens under the Law of Return [official text] but due to strict requirements of Israeli law are not considered Jewish, despite their heritage.

Israel has been in the news recently due to a considerable uptick in violence in the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict [Human Rights Watch backgrounder (HRW), JURIST news archive]. Last week the UN Human Rights Committee [official website] urged Israel [report] to investigate alleged violations committed by its forces during the recent wars in Gaza to ensure justice. In September HRW [advocacy website] accused [JURIST report] the Israeli military of committing war crimes over the summer by attacking schools where hundreds of displaced Palestinians sought shelter. In the same month the Shurat HaDin – Israel Law Center [advocacy website] announced [JURIST report] that they have asked the International Criminal Court Office of the Prosecutor to open an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal.