Uri Regev

Latest stories by Uri Regev

Israel Independence Day according to Haredi media

Israel Independence Day according to Haredi media

Two front page pictures, that of the front page of Yaded Ne’eman and of Yediot Aharonot, on Israel’s Memorial Day for the Fallen Soldiers, which is also the eve of Yom Ha’atzmaut, tell the whole story. A government that prides itself as being Zionistic, relies on ultra-Orthodox politicians that are cynical and anti-Zionistic, aiming to extort State funds, enforce religious coercion and undermine Zionism.

So, who owns Judaism?

So, who owns Judaism?

MK Israel Eichler [United Torah Judaism] had this to say yesterday about the new Labor MK, Rabbi Gilad Kariv when the new MKs were sworn in and the new Knesset launched its anticipated stormy, possibly short lived, term. Kariv was, until recently, the Executive Director of the Israeli Reform Movement, and Eichler’s vitriol is not directed against him personally, but rather against all Judaism’s liberal streams:

The Fourth Elections are upon us

The Fourth Elections are upon us

Next Tuesday, Israel will go to the polls for the 4th time in two years. All the many polls being conducted ahead of the elections indicate uncertainty as to their outcome.

What they said about the landmark Court ruling

What they said about the landmark Court ruling

The Supreme Court was kind to Israel in issuing its ruling this week on the matter of the eligibility under the Law of Return for Reform and Conservative Conversions performed in Israel. Opponents of recognizing non-Orthodox converts rushed to condemn the Court and criticize it for not waiting another few weeks or months, after having waited 15 years, until after the next Knesset elections. However, the truth is that the ruling is of great importance in helping the public decide whom to vote for and what direction it wants the State of Israel to grow. It wasn’t the the verdict itself, which is important, but rather the violent [verbal] reactions , not yet physical] that erupted from the very moment it was published and the political demarcations that divide the responding camps.

A glimpse through the eyes of the English media

A glimpse through the eyes of the English media

There is not a day that the media in Israel does not deal with the meeting points Between the ultra-Orthodox and the secular, as well as between religion and politics in the context of the pandemic.

Legal Groups Protest Israel's Interior Minister

Legal Groups Protest Israel's Interior Minister

J-PLAN, the Jewish Pluralism Legal Action Network, a network of Jewish lawyers in North America, working in partnership with Hiddush – Freedom of Religion for Israel, and the American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists [AAJLJ] sent a letter on January 18, 2021,to Israel’s Interior Minister, Attorney General, and other officials, to protest the Ministry of the Interior’s recent decision to suspend registration of civil marriages of Israeli citizens lawfully married under the laws of "Utah County in the State of Utah.

Update on COVID-19 and religion

Update on COVID-19 and religion

There is almost no news broadcast on radio or television these days on the COVID-19 pandemic that does not mention the ultra-Orthodox issue.

This is not the democracy we aspire to

This is not the democracy we aspire to

The thoughts of many of our readers, especially in the United States, are on yesterday's events in Washington, DC. It’s hard to believe that those events occurred, and they will make their mark on American society and politics for a long time to come.

Taking the battle into 2021

Taking the battle into 2021

Your support for Hiddush’s work is especially important to enable us to maximize the exposure of the battle for freedom of religion and equality of civic burden and to emphasize their implications for the future of the state and the Jewish people.

Hiddush’s effective advocacy from an ultra-Orthodox perspective

Hiddush’s effective advocacy from an ultra-Orthodox perspective

On Dec. 13th, 2020, the following news appeared in an ultra-Orthodox news portal, describing their perspective on Hiddush’s success in overcoming decades of Orthodox control over military burials in Israel, which historically excluded secular and non-Orthodox alternatives for families of fallen soldiers:

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