Case Number

HCJ 153/87

Date Decided

5-19-1988

Decision Type

Original

Document Type

Full Opinion

Abstract

The Jewish Religious Services Law provides for the establishment of local religious councils throughout the country, charged with the duty to provide Jewish religious services and to allocate public funds in support of such religious services, as are needed in the area. By Law, the membership of such councils is to reflect the general public desire and need for the distribution of such religious services in the locality and the range of interest in such services. In determining the Council's make-up, attention must be given to the different groups represented in the Local or Municipal Council and to their respective strength, but this factor is not conclusive. The members of the religious council are appointed by the Minister of Religious Affairs, the local Chief Rabbis and the Local Council, following a procedure whereby each of the above voices his opinion of the others' candidates. Disagreements between the parties concerning proposed members of the religious council are resolved by a ministerial committee comprised of representatives of the Prime Minister, the Minister of Religious Affairs and the Minister of the Interior.

This case concerns the makeup of the religious council in Yerucham. The Petitioner is a religiously observant woman, who teaches Judaic subjects in the local school. She is a member of the Local Council, representing the National Religious Party, and was proposed by the Local Council to be a member of the Yerucham religious council. The local Rabbi opposed her inclusion on the religious council on the ground that she is a woman, that women have not hitherto served on religious councils and that her presence would impair the council's functioning.

The Petitioner was not included among the members of the religious council. Her exclusion was explained by the ministerial committee as not based upon any principled objection to a woman serving on such a council but rather as grounded in a tradition that has developed since the establishment of the State, adhered to by all the concerned parties, that women would not be proposed as members of religious councils due to the close working relationship existing between such councils and the Rabbinate. It was also feared that the Petitioner's membership on the religious council in Yerucham would obstruct its proper functioning. The Petitioner contends that her disqualification is based on irrelevant grounds. Since the religious council is an administrative body, concerned with providing and funding religious services to the local community, and does not decide questions of religious Law, there is no reason to disqualify a woman from serving on it.

The court issued an order nisi, directing the Respondents to show cause why the court should not direct that the Petitioner be included as a member of the Yerucham religious council. The Respondents appeared in opposition to the order nisi. In a decision rendered by Justice Elon, the court ordered that the rule be made absolute, holding:

1. The ministerial committee, being a body that fulfills a public function under the Law, is subject to judicial review. As with all such public administrative bodies, it must exercise its discretion in good faith, honestly, rationally and without unlawful discrimination, and must make its decisions on the basis of relevant considerations.

2. The Jewish religious services provided by the religious council are an integral part of the municipal services furnished in the locality and must be provided to all who request them, without regard to sex, ideology, education or any other distinction. Although such services are religious in character, the religious council is responsible only for their provision and is not concerned with the resolution of any questions concerning matters of religious Law. The qualifications for membership on the council are determined by the general legal system. Candidates for membership on the council need not meet such qualifications as are required by religious Law.

3. The exclusion of the Petitioner from membership on the religious council because she is a woman is contrary to the fundamental principle of the Israeli legal system that forbids discrimination on grounds of gender. This principle finds expression in the Declaration of Independence and is one of the principles which has found its expression in the Women's Equal Rights Law, 5711-1951.

Keywords

Administrative Law -- Discretion, Administrative Law -- Judicial review, Constitutional Law -- Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty, Constitutional Law -- Equality Before the Law, Jewish Law -- Women

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