Post on 28-Mar-2023
Clashing Over Conversion: ‘‘Who is a Jew’’ and MediaRepresentations of an Israeli Supreme Court Decision
Bryna Bogoch • Yifat Holzman-Gazit
Published online: 30 May 2010
� Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010
Abstract Religion-state issues are particularly contentious in the Israeli context
and they are often resolved by litigation before the Supreme Court in its capacity as
the High Court of Justice. A recent controversy that reached Israel’s High Court of
Justice in 2005 involved a petition to recognize the validity of non-Orthodox
conversions to Judaism. This paper examines the role of the press in constructing
the controversy and the image of the High Court of Justice by analyzing all the
reports and editorials in both an elite and in a popular newspaper, published from a
week before the decision was issued until to 1 month afterwards. It looks at the
visual, inter-textual and linguistic features of the articles and analyzes the frames
used in representing the Court, the petitioners, and the controversy. We found that
two distinct frames were used by the papers to convey the essence of the contro-
versy in the Tushbeim case. While the organizing idea in Haaretz, the elite news-
paper, was one of Israel as a civic state, Yediot, the popular newspaper, emphasized
the religious dimension of Israeli nationhood. Moreover, contrary to widespread
perceptions of the popular press, it presented a wider range of views than did the
elite newspaper, which tended to praise the Court and to support the decision.
However, both papers avoided challenges to the basic issue of whether religious
authorities should control the definition of the character of Israel as a Jewish State.
B. Bogoch (&)
Department of Political Studies, Bar Ilan University, 52900 Ramat Gan, Israel
e-mail: bogocb@mail.biu.ac.il
B. Bogoch
Department of Interdisciplinary Social Science Studies, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
Y. Holzman-Gazit
School of Law, College of Management, 75190 Rishon Lezion, Israel
e-mail: h1yifat@colman.ac.il
123
Int J Semiot Law (2011) 24:423–445
DOI 10.1007/s11196-010-9172-y
Thus, the media in effect defined the terms of the struggle over the Jewish identity
of the state within consensual boundaries.
Keywords Religion and state � Supreme Court � Law and media �Popular press � High Court of Justice � Israel � Law and religion �Law and popular culture � Textual analysis
1 Introduction
Legal scholars have recently come to appreciate the fact that an understanding of the
ways in which law operates must include notions of popular conceptions and
awareness of the law [17, 19]. As a result, growing attention has turned to the
cultural study of law, and the representations of the law and legal actors in popular
culture [49, 50, 52]. These media images are often the main source of public
knowledge of the law, and as such form the basis of notions of legality that
determine our underlying assumptions about how the law works, and when it can be
mobilized [11, 17, 24, 42, 53]. Cultural studies have emphasized the permeable
boundaries of the law and the intermingling of popular culture and legal practice,
such that films, journalism and television shows are now regarded as essential texts
for understanding how law rules [6, 30, 44, 46, 52].
Newspapers play a special role in the cultural construction of law, because unlike
other media, the press is assumed to describe real events and to select, highlight and
explicate the phenomena that are crucial to the public in fulfilling its watchdog role
in democracy [14, 24, 26]. While the press coverage of law and order is
considerable, sometimes comprising more than half the content of the newspaper
[16], media studies of legal issues in the past have focused mainly on crime and
criminal law [3, 6, 57]. Today the range has expanded, including studies of the
media portrayal of human rights [37], civil litigation [27, 39], members of the legal
professions [21], and lately, a growing interest in the media coverage of Supreme
Courts [2, 5, 7, 8, 26, 51, 55].
This article contributes to the developing body of research on the media coverage
of Supreme Courts by analyzing the press coverage of a decision by Israel’s High
Court of Justice (HCJ) that revolved around one of the most contentious issues in
Israeli society: the religion-state dispute [32, 56]. The case at issue (known as
Tushbeim/05) dealt with the validity of non-Orthodox conversions to Judaism
conducted outside of Israel. The Court ruled that such conversions should be
regarded as qualifying the converts for citizenship rights that are granted Jewish
immigrants despite the objection of the Orthodox establishment in Israel to
recognizing these converts as Jews. This article uses insights from the study of
media frames [10, 15, 45, 58] and the textual analysis of media content [9, 25] to
analyze articles that referred to the decision in a popular (tabloid) and an elite
(quality) newspaper. Our purpose is to compare the way the stories are framed in
each newspaper, and to suggest what these press narratives mean for the image and
social role of the court, and for the definition of Israel as a Jewish and democratic
state.
424 B. Bogoch, Y. Holzman-Gazit
123
1.1 News Narratives and News Framing
The analysis of how news texts construct our understanding of issues and public
controversies has been the focus of research in various branches of communications
studies [36, 45, 54, 60, 61]. One important concept to emerge from these studies is the
concept of frames. While a number of definitions of frames have been suggested
(reviewed in Johnson-Cartee [29], de Vrees [10], Reese [45] and Matthes and Kohring
[36]), frames, like themes, basically refer to the ‘‘central organizing idea for news
content that supplies a context and suggests what the issue is through the use of
selection, emphasis, exclusion and elaboration’’ [29, p. 24]. In doing so, frames define
problems, diagnose causes, make moral judgments and often suggest remedies [10, 14,
15]. Some scholars of framing have emphasized the ways in which institutional
interests and power relationships are invoked in the framing of news stories, so that
hegemonic values and beliefs are supported and reinforced [9, 15, 36, 45].
Both qualitative and quantitative methods have been used in the identification of
frames in the news media, in order to analyze the visual, semantic and syntactic
elements of the text and the structure or organization of the news narrative [10, 36,
45]. Tankard [58] compiled a list of eleven focal points for identifying and
measuring frames in studies of the press, including headlines, subheadings, photos
and captions, source selection, quote selection, statistics and charts, and the
concluding paragraph. Deacon et al. [9] took account of the formal staging of
the news text, including its position, composition and intertextual relations, i.e., the
relation the news story has to other stories and other discourse types within the
newspaper. They also emphasized the sequencing of sources, protagonists, and
representations of events. Gamson and Modigliani’s [22] analysis of news frames
focused on metaphors, exemplars, catch phrases and depictions.
One of the factors that have been related to the use of different frames in studies
of the press is whether the newspaper is a quality (elite) or a tabloid (popular) paper
[20]. Elite newspapers, geared to an educated, high status audience, are regarded as
professional papers and enjoy the reputation of credibility, accuracy, objectivity and
fairness. Popular newspapers aim for the widest possible audience, and are often
viewed as providing low-quality, unprofessional infotainment [16, 40]. The two
types of newspapers, it is said, provide distinct accounts of events and highlight
different topics and actors [16, 59]. Some researchers have suggested that the elite
press gives more coverage to marginal groups and unpopular causes. Others have
claimed that the elite press gives voice to official, establishment voices, whereas the
popular press frames issues from the point of view of the general public [40]. The
framing of Israel’s High Court of Justice in a decision recognizing non-Orthodox
overseas conversions for immigration purposes will be examined in a popular and in
an elite newspaper.
2 Procedure and Sample
Our sample comprised all articles relating to the Tushbeim/05 decision that appeared
in Yediot Aharonot (the most popular newspaper in Israel) and in Haaretz, the only
Clashing Over Conversion 425
123
daily quality paper of general interest in Israel,1 for a period extending from 1 week
prior to the date on which the decision was issued to 1 month after the decision (i.e.,
from March 26 to May 5, 2005). The sample included reports, editorials, signed
opinion pieces and feature articles explaining the decision and its impact. We also
examined articles relating to conversion in general and to other religion-state issues
that appeared during the research period. Altogether, there were 40 articles in the
sample.
This study is based on a qualitative analysis of the way the press framed the
Court and the decision, and the position taken by the papers toward the decision.
The analysis took into account visual aspects of the structure, size and placement of
the articles, lexical choices and syntactic elements of the headlines, sub-headings
and lead sentences, and the depiction of the protagonists, as well as the sequential
arrangement of the narrative and the hierarchy and nature of the sources quoted.
These features reveal the values, assumptions and ideological positions of the paper,
and the meanings that are promoted as well as those that are ignored by the mass
media on contentious religion-state issues in Israel.
Before presenting the findings of our research on the press coverage of the
decision, we will discuss the nature of the religion-state relationship in Israel and the
role of the Supreme Court in deciding religion-state issues in general and the
specific instance of conversions in particular.
3 Religion-State Relationships in Israel
The definition of Jewish identity has been a controversial issue in Israel since its
founding in 1948. Israel’s Proclamation of Independence of May 14th, 1948
declared the ‘‘establishment of a Jewish State in Eretz-Israel, to be known as the
State of Israel’’. As a democratic, non-theocratic state, Israel would, the
Proclamation pledges ‘‘uphold the full social and political equality of all citizens,
without distinction of religion, race or sex; [and would] guarantee the freedom of
religion, conscience, education and culture.’’ This self-definition as both a Jewish
and a democratic state has resulted in chronic tensions arising from the encounter
between traditional Judaism and a Western liberal state, and between Jewish law
and state law. The lack of a written constitution that stipulates the model of the
relationship between the state and religion,2 has led to ongoing debates that have
been played out in the Israeli parliament (the Knesset) and in the courts, particularly
in the Supreme Court in its capacity as the High Court of Justice.
1 At the time of the decision there were two popular daily newspapers in Israel, Maariv and YediotAharonot commonly referred to as Yediot. Yediot is chosen to represent the popular press in most studies
because of its wider circulation (60% of daily newspaper readers read Yediot in 2005, compared to 30%
who read Maariv).2 According to the Proclamation of Independence, a constituent assembly should have prepared a
constitution by October 1, 1948. However, because of disputes largely due to a potential clash between a
secular constitution and Jewish religious law, the plan to enact a constitution did not materialize [23].
426 B. Bogoch, Y. Holzman-Gazit
123
Israel’s Supreme Court stands at the head of the court system.3 As the highest
Court of Appeals in civil and criminal matters, the Supreme Court adjudicates
appeals by right from lower courts.4 As the High Court of Justice (HCJ), the Supreme
Court rules as a court of first instance, primarily in matters regarding the legality of
decisions by state authorities and in direct challenges to the constitutionality of laws
enacted by the Knesset. The HCJ has broad discretionary authority to rule on matters
on which it considers necessary to grant relief in the interests of justice, and which
are not within the jurisdiction of other courts or tribunals.5 Because state-religion
controversies involve challenges to the incorporation and interpretation of religious
norms by state authorities and public institutions, adjudication in this field has been
handled primarily by the Supreme Court in its capacity as the HCJ.
For the first 25 years of Israel’s existence, the debates regarding religion and
state relationships focused on how to formalize the Jewish dimension of the state.
Tensions arose among those who advocated a strict separation between religion and
state, those who believed that Orthodox Jewish law should be the guiding principle
of the new state, and those who sought a middle ground [12, 13, 34, 47]. As the
Reform and Conservative movements did not gain a foothold in Israeli society in
those early state-building years, the content of state-sanctioned Jewish laws was
shaped exclusively by the Orthodox movement.6
The debate on the religion-state relationship took a new direction in the 1970s
with the development of a more heterogenic society in Israel. Growing numbers of
non-Orthodox Jews from North America who were affiliated with the Conservative
and Reform denominations in the US immigrated to Israel after the 1967 war.
Furthermore, as Israeli society emerged from its nation- building stage, calls to
define Judaism in terms of cultural and historical affiliation, not necessarily
dependent on Jewish religious definitions, gained public exposure.7 While the
3 The Supreme Court sits in Jerusalem and its area of jurisdiction is the entire country. Currently, there
are twelve justices out of a possible fifteen serving on the Supreme Court. Unlike the American Supreme
Court where the entire bench presides over all cases, the Israeli Supreme Court usually sits in panels of
three. However, there is also a possibility of expanding the panel. The difference between the Israeli and
American courts with respect to the initial (default) size of the bench is an outcome of the fact that the US
Supreme Court’s exercise of jurisdiction is primarily discretionary, whereas in Israel the Supreme Court
hears appeals by right in civil and criminal matters and serves as a court of first instance in most matters
relating to petitions against state actions.4 A ruling of the Supreme Court is binding upon every court, other than the Supreme Court itself. This is
the principle of binding precedent (stare decisis) in Israel.5 The High Court of Justice grants relief through orders such as injunction, mandamus, and habeascorpus as well as through declaratory judgments.6 An early example is the area of family law. As a carryover from the Ottoman rule (1517–1917) and the
British Mandate in Palestine (1917–1948), matters of personal status, such as marriage, divorce, burial,
and inheritance are under the sole jurisdiction of religious authorities. From the British Mandate’s
recognition of the Orthodox authorities as the sole authorities on issues of Jewish law, Orthodox Jewish
law has become binding on the Jews of Israel with the exception of those who hold foreign nationality and
could contract civil marriages before consular officers. Political maneuvers by the religious parties in the
1950s and 1960s led to further imposition of religious norms.7 For the variety of opinions see Ben- Rafael [4]. This book comprises the replies sent by 50 scholars to
Ben-Gurion, the first Prime Minister of Israel, in answer to a question he sent asking them to define ‘‘who
is a Jew’’. The question was sent in response to the problem of registering the children of a non-Jewish
parent [35].
Clashing Over Conversion 427
123
secular community continued to oppose the imposition of [Orthodox] religious
norms in Israel, the legislature and the courts also had to face new challenges
concerning the definition of state-recognized Judaism. Non-Orthodox movements
sought to interpret, legislate and implement state-definitions of Judaism that
diverged from Orthodox Jewish law. The central field in which these attempts took
place was the definition of ‘‘who is a Jew’’.
3.1 ‘‘Who is a Jew’’? Normative Implications
The answer to the question of ‘‘who is a Jew’’ carries profound implications under
Israeli law. In addition to the subordination of all Jews to Orthodox Rabbinical
courts for personal status issues, the recognition of an individual as a Jew is crucial
for immigration and identification purposes. Israeli law accords every Jew the right
to immigrate to Israel and to be automatically granted citizenship (the status of an
oleh).8 Jews who immigrate to Israel are entitled to financial assistance and various
state subsidies designed to help them with initial acclimatization.9 State identity
cards also included a ‘‘nationality’’ rubrique in which citizens were defined as
Jewish or other.
The issue of immigration and automatic citizenship is governed by the Law of
Return enacted in 1950. In presenting the Law of Return before the Knesset, Prime
Minister Ben-Gurion stated that it embodied the central purpose of the new state.10
However, the Law of Return does not include a definition of the term ‘‘Jew’’ for the
purpose of immigration and citizenship, despite the legislature’s awareness of the
controversy surrounding its meaning and the varying definitions that are given to
Judaism. The same tactic of not defining who a Jew is was employed by the
legislature in the original version of the Population and Registry Law of 1965 which
governs the procedure of issuing state identity cards in Israel.
Following a controversial decision in which the HCJ implicitly recognized an
alternative to the Orthodox definition of Judaism, a new section was added to the
Law of Return and the Registry Law in 1970.11 The amendment defined a Jew as ‘‘a
8 Oleh not only means an immigrant but is a value-laden word in Hebrew. It means going up. The term is
used only with respect to Jews who immigrate to Israel, as opposed to non-Jewish immigrants. Israelis
who leave Israel to other countries are called yordim which means going down from a high place to a
lower one.9 The acronym for the financial assistance provided to Jewish immigrants is Absorption Basket.
http://www.moia.gov.il/Moia_en/FinancialAssistance/AbsorptionBasket.htm?SearchText=.10 PM Ben-Gurion stated the following during the introduction of the Law of Return to the Knesset:
‘‘This is not a Jewish state merely because Jews are the majority of its population. It is a state for Jews
everywhere. The Law of Return embodies the central purpose of our state’’ [28].11 H.C. Shalit v. Minister of Interior, 23(1) P.D. 447, translated at Selected Judgments of the Supreme
Court of Israel, Special Volume, 35 (1971). The Shalit case involved Benjamin Shalit, a reserve officer in
the Israeli Navy, who married a non-Jewish woman while studying in Edinburgh. His wife joined him in
Israel and received a resident certificate. In her ID card registration documents, Shalit’s wife declared
herself a British national with no religion. The Shalits attempted to register their Israeli-born children as
having no religion in the rubric of religion and as Jews in the rubric of nationality. The registration clerk
in the Ministry of Interior refused to make the distinction between religion and nationality and suggested
that Shalit leave both the ‘‘nationality’’ and religion‘‘ rubrics in the ID card blank. Shalit appealed to the
Supreme Court and won by a 5–4 majority decision. The decision was based on technical grounds,
428 B. Bogoch, Y. Holzman-Gazit
123
person born to a Jewish mother or who has converted and does not belong to another
religion’’. From then on, the question ceased to be ‘‘Who is a Jew?’’ and became
‘‘Who is a convert?’’. The legislature once again failed to specify the type of
‘‘conversion’’ necessary in order to become a citizen of the State of Israel and to be
registered as a Jew on one’s ID card. This imprecision led to contentious court
challenges and legislative actions over the next two decades.
3.2 The Conversion Controversy: The Interplay Between the Legislature
and the Supreme Court
Since the 1970 Amendment to the Law of Return, Orthodox political parties have
repeatedly and unsuccessfully sought to amend the law so that it would specify that
immigrant rights would be granted to converts to Judaism only if their conversion
was conducted under Orthodox auspices. The controversy over the definition of who
a convert re-emerged in 1995 when the HCJ ordered the Ministry of Interior to
register as Jewish a woman who had converted under Reform auspices in Israel.12
The legal rationale for the decision was technical. The court found that the Interior
Ministry’s request for a conversion certificate from the Rabbinate—which of course
the convert could not provide as her conversion was not recognized by the Orthodox
establishment—had no basis in the authorizing legislation and that therefore there
were no grounds for refusing the granting of Jewish status to the petitioner. Despite
the technical reasoning, this decision—known as the Goldstein case—was hailed by
Reform and Conservative leaders as de-facto official state recognition of non-
Orthodox conversions performed in Israel. This was, however, a broad interpre-
tation of the ruling. Recognizing the political controversy over the definition of
‘‘who is a Jew’’, the justices in Goldstein avoided ruling on the validity of non-
Orthodox conversions in Israel. Chief Justice Barak explicitly stated that: ‘‘We are
not ruling on what the substantive content of conversions in Israel is’’. Furthermore,
since Goldstein was already a citizen of Israel by virtue of her marriage to an Israeli,
the court’s ruling did not interpret the concept of ‘‘conversion’’ for the purposes of
the Law of Return (which provides for automatic Israeli citizenship), nor did it
address conversions performed outside Israel.
Leaving those issues undecided, the Supreme Court directed the legislature to
clarify the guidelines for conversions performed in Israel. The court added that
should the legislature fail to establish such guidelines regarding state recognition of
non-Orthodox conversions performed in Israel, the responsibility would fall to the
court in future cases. Almost immediately, political forces mobilized to initiate
legislation to further clarify the status of conversions performed in Israel, including
Footnote 11 continued
specifically questioning the scope of the independent discretion of the registration clerk. However, the
Court ruling also implicitly recognized an alternative interpretation to the Orthodox definition of Judaism.
The court ordered the Ministry of Interior to register Shalit’s children as belonging to the Jewish nation
and to leave their religious affiliation blank. The Shalit ruling triggered a public storm and political
pressures that culminated in an amendment to the Law of Return and the Registry Law [1, 33, 38].12 H.C. 1031/93 Eliana Pessaro v. Minister of Interior, 49(4) P.D. 49, abridged in Jewish law Association
Studies (2000).
Clashing Over Conversion 429
123
a committee that recommended the establishment of a conversion institute operated
jointly by the three denominations.13 These initiatives failed, and the Reform and
Conservative movements resumed their efforts to attain their goals through
adjudication.
The Na’amat case (2002) was a partial continuation of the Goldstein case. Several
petitioners who converted in Israel under the auspices of the Reform movement and
others who converted abroad sought to be recognized as Jews.14 The court decided by
a majority of 10 to 1 that those converted in Israel should be registered as Jews on
their identity cards and with the Ministry of Interior.15 The Court left to a future
occasion the decision about whether non-Orthodox conversions performed abroad
entitled the converts to be regarded as Jews under the Law of Return, with the rights
to automatic citizenship and to state financial assistance in absorption [48]. That
occasion came 3 years later in the Tushbeim case.
3.3 ‘‘Stop-Over Conversions’’: The Case of Tushbeim/05
The Tushbeim case involved the status of Conservative and Reform conversions
conducted abroad for purposes of recognition under the Law of Return.16 Unlike the
circumstances in Naamat that dealt with petitioners converting in Israel, in
Tushbeim the candidates for conversion had undergone conversion proceedings
abroad after having resided in Israel as non-Jews. They had travelled abroad for the
explicit purpose of converting, which is why these conversions were termed ‘‘stop-
over conversions’’.17 In accordance with general procedure in petitions to the HCJ,
the Tushbeim case was adjudicated in two stages. First the court asked the state to
respond to the petition by explaining why it would not recognize the conversion of
the petitioners for the purpose of the Law of Return. The state replied that the prior
residence of the petitioners in Israel precluded their entitlement to the status of olehunder the Law of Return, irrespective of the question of the validity of their
conversion. The argument was that the Law of Return applies only to Jews living
abroad who desire to immigrate to Israel and not to a person who undergoes a
conversion ceremony (either inside or outside Israel) while living in Israel. In a
majority of 7 against 4, the court refused to accept the state’s position. The majority
opinion was written by Chief Justice Barak who explained that:
Aliya (i.e., immigration) means the settling of a Jew in Israel… It would be
illegal discrimination if one person were to be recognized as an ‘‘oleh’’ [new
13 The Committee (known as the Neeman Committee after the name of its chairperson) reached a
compromise proposal to create an institution for the preparation of converts and to oversee the conversion
process. According to the proposal, the conversion institute would be operated jointly by the three
denominations, but only Orthodox Rabbis would conduct the conversion ceremony itself. This proposal
would have granted recognition by the State of Israel and by the Rabbinate to the Reform and
Conservative movements in Israel in matters of personal status. See Keinon [31, p. 1].14 HC 5070/95 Naamat v. Minister of Interior, 56(2) PD 721. abridged in 31 Justice pp. 37–42 (2202).15 The Court expanded the panel in Naamat case to 11 out of the 15 justices serving at the time. This is a
clear indication of the perceived importance of the dispute.16 HC 2597/99 Tushbeim v. Minister of Interior (ruling given on 31.5.2004).17 In Hebrew, the term is literally’’ hop-over‘‘ conversions.
430 B. Bogoch, Y. Holzman-Gazit
123
immigrant] because he converted and subsequently settled in Israel while the
same recognition is denied to another person desiring to settle in Israel, purely
because he converted after having come to settle in Israel. Both of the converts
joined the Jewish people and came to settle in Israel: both of them are sons
[sic] returning to their homeland.18
Having rejected the state’s argument for negating the petitioners’ entitlements to
an oleh certificate under the Law of Return, the court ordered the state to grant the
petitioners Israeli citizenship, including the financial assistance of the absorption
basket. However, the court gave the state another opportunity to formulate its
position regarding the nature of conversions required for recognition as a Jew under
the Law of Return. The state’s reply to the court was that it would confer equal
recognition to all conversions conducted abroad provided that the convert was a
member of a recognized Jewish community (Orthodox, Conservative, or Reform)
and the conversion was conducted by community institutions.
On March 31 2005, the Court issued its final decision. It rejected the state’s
qualifications by a majority of 7 to 4. While acknowledging the importance of
ensuring that the conversion was genuine, the majority of the justices held that it
was not necessary to compel the convert to join the converting community in order
to ensure the seriousness of the conversion. They held that it was sufficient ‘‘that the
conversion took place in a recognized Jewish community abroad, was followed by
immigration to Israel and was conducted according to the guidelines accepted in
that community for someone desiring to join the community’’. The petitioners, who
resided in Israel prior to their conversion and pursued the process in Israel but went
abroad for the actual ceremony, were recognized by the Supreme Court as Jews, and
entitled to Israeli citizenship including the benefits provided Jews under the Law of
Return. We now turn to the analysis of how the Tushbeim conversion case was
reported by the popular and quality press in Israel.
4 The Press and the Tushbeim Case
There is no doubt that the court’s decision was deemed newsworthy by both papers.
On the day before the decision (March 30, 2005), four articles in Haaretz, including a
photograph, charts and commentary, discussed the possible implications of the
forthcoming decision, presented conversion statistics and described conversion
procedures in Israel. The day after the decision was delivered (April 1, 2005), not
only did it make front page headlines in Haaretz but two articles that appeared on the
front page continued onto the second page of the newspaper, and additional stories
covered most of the second and third pages. On the same day, the third page of Yediotwas dedicated in its entirety to decision-related articles (without any advertisements).
Moreover, throughout the month, in addition to news and editorial items about the
conversion decision itself, there were spin-offs into other religion-state controversies
which sometimes referred to the decision in passing, as well as to other stories of
18 HC 2597/99 Tushbeim v. Minister of Interior (ruling given on 31.5.2004) Id. Par. 19.
Clashing Over Conversion 431
123
converts and conversions that did not mention the decision at all. The fact that 17
articles in Yediot and 23 articles in Haaretz dealt with religion-state matters during
the 1 month period (Table 1) stands in stark contrast to the relatively few stories that
featured HCJ decisions about religion-state issues found at other times (5). The large
number of opinion pieces (almost twice as many opinions as news stories in Yediot,and the same number of opinions as news stories in Haaretz) is another sign of the
controversial nature of the topic, and its salience in the Israeli context.
4.1 Frames and Narratives
Two distinct frames were used by the papers to convey the essence of the
controversy in the Tushbeim case. While the organizing idea in Haaretz was one of
Israel as a civic state, Yediot emphasized the religious dimension of Israeli
nationhood.
Haaretz’ coverage centered around the right of overseas converts to Israeli
citizenship under the Law of Return and the centrality of the Supreme Court in
enabling the petitioners to overcome the hurdles created by the religious
establishment and the political arena. From the very first headline announcing the
forthcoming decision (published a day prior to delivery) the centrality of the theme
of citizenship and the powerful status of the High Court of Justice are obvious:
‘‘HCJ will rule tomorrow if conversion outside Israel is recognized for purposes of
the Law of Return’’.19 Subsequent headlines also use the same form: ‘‘HCJ ruled’’,
‘‘HCJ decided’’. In fact, explicit references to the HCJ and to the ruling appear in
nine of 17 headlines about the case and its implications. Two photographs of Chief
Justice Barak were appended to the articles. By contrast, in Yediot, there were no
photos at all of any of the Justices or of the Court, and the HCJ is mentioned in only
four of the 13 decision-specific headlines.
It is also interesting to note how the sides to the dispute are presented by Haaretz.
Even in the pre-decision phase, the conflict is between the court which has the
power to resolve thorny issues, and the deadlocked, and ultimately weak, political
sphere. The headlines in Haaretz do not explicitly mention the conflict of interests
between the court and the Rabbinate. The Rabbinate is mentioned only once in a
headline, and that is in a pre-decision article that presents the Rabbinate as
responsible for the inability of the political system to achieve its goal: ‘‘Sharon [the
Table 1 Number of stories by
newspaper, topic and type of
story
Haaretz Yediyot
Conversion decision news and features 9 5
Conversion decision editorials and opinions 8 8
Other religion state news 3 1
Other religion state editorials 2 2
Other conversion stories 1 1
Total 23 17
19 Haaretz, 30-3-05, p. 6a.
432 B. Bogoch, Y. Holzman-Gazit
123
then Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon] wanted to remove hurdles, the Rabbinate raised
obstacles and that is why there is no increase in the number of converts’’.20 Thus,
even before the decision is delivered, the dispute is framed in Haaretz as a clash of
interests between the state and the religious establishment on the one hand, and
between the HCJ and the political arena on the other. Haaretz downplays the direct
challenge of the Tushbeim ruling to Orthodox law and the decision’s defiance of the
Orthodox institutions and courts in Israel that have had a monopoly in matters of
personal status and conversions.
In the same pre-decision report which covers about half the page of the newspaper,
we are told that ‘‘The prime minister regards increasing the number of converts as very
important and sees it as one of the central means of guaranteeing the Jewish majority in
Israel.’’21 The Jewish identity of the state and the importance of increasing the Jewish
presence in Israel are almost unanimously accepted values among all sectors of the
Jewish population. Thus, the obstacles raised by the religious establishment are
paradoxically presented as a threat to the very identity of Israel as a Jewish State. In
Haaretz’ version, it is the HCJ, rather than the political establishment, that is portrayed
as the guardian of these hegemonic values. The narrative is one of the strength of court
compared to the weakness of the political system.
In contrast to the way the decision was framed in Haaretz, in Yediot, the story
was primarily one of religion and nationhood, rather than of citizenship. If the
central question in Haaretz was who can be an Israeli and who determines who is
eligible for citizenship, in Yediot it was ‘‘who is a Jew’’, and what are the criteria for
becoming a member of the Jewish people. As a popular newspaper, Yediotdramatizes the conflictual elements of the decision, rather than its legal rationale.
The language, the sources quoted and the visual elements of the first reports of the
decision in Yediot convey these distinct features.
The placement of the report of the decision at the very beginning of the news
section, the large size of the headline and the use of color attest to its importance and
its dramatic nature. The story was headlined in a large white font against a red
background: ‘‘It’s less hard to be a Jew’’.22 This is a play on a familiar saying ‘‘It’s
hard to be a Jew’’ that is both an acknowledgement of the Jewish existential condition
as well as an expression of self-identity and national pride. The court’s decision,
then, was framed as affecting the notion of Jewish people-hood, by blurring the
boundaries between Jews and non-Jews. The story is accompanied by a large color
photo of a teary-eyed convert held by her partner, in which her right hand is folded
diagonally across her chest, in a gesture reminiscent of the motions used in Jewish
penitential prayers (see Fig. 1). Moreover, a yellow circle with the inscription ‘‘We
are all Jews’’ appears like a badge on the partner’s sleeve—a clear reference to the
‘‘Jude’’ badge which Jews were forced to wear in Nazi occupied Europe. The picture
thus invokes the historical connection to the Jewish people outside of the Israeli
context. It also reinforces the criticism by some that the decision recognizing ‘‘stop-
over’’ conversions challenges the uniqueness of the Jewish people.
20 Haaretz, 30-3-05, p. 6a.21 Haaretz, 30-3-05, p. 6a.22 Yediot, 1-4-05, p. 3.
Clashing Over Conversion 433
123
A different photo of the same couple was used in Haaretz (see Fig. 2). In
Haaretz, the picture was much smaller and located at the bottom of a review of a
concert, which was the only non-decision related item on the page. There was no
yellow circle superimposed on the convert’s partner’s sleeve. The caption read:
‘‘From a foreign resident to the status of citizen’’.23 Thus, the decision as presented
in Haaretz affects residents in Israel, granting them citizenship, whereas in Yediot, it
affects the Jewish people at large, extending the definition of who can claim
membership.
Yediot’s main headline ‘‘It is less hard to be a Jew’’ together with a secondary
headline and lead paragraph provided the gist of the story as well as the side taken in
Fig. 1 Initial report of HCJ decision, Yediyot
23 Haaretz, 1-4-05, p. 3a.
434 B. Bogoch, Y. Holzman-Gazit
123
the dispute [9, p. 170]. Thus, the sub-headline in the lead story about the decision
read:
By a majority of seven against four, a special panel of the HCJ determined: A
person who started his life as a goy [non-Jew], studied in a Reform or
Conservative framework and ‘‘hopped’’ abroad to obtain the official conver-
sion certificate, is eligible to be recognized as a Jew. Chief Justice Barak: It is
necessary to adopt equal treatment toward non-Orthodox groups in Judaism.
Ultra-Orthodox members of parliament are furious and are organizing
legislation that circumvents the HCJ. And the petitioners celebrate: ‘‘Thank
God’’.
The first sentence of the sub-headline translates the legal decision into colloquial
and even vulgar language. The use of the word ‘‘goy’’, a word meaning nation and
used pejoratively to designate non-Jews, is certainly never used in the decision, and
would be regarded as not politically correct in spoken discourse in most Israeli
circles. The ‘‘goy’’ is culturally and religiously the antithesis of the Jew, and
describing a convert as a goy who has been recognized as Jewish by the court in
effect mocks the court’s decision. Yediot’s use of the word in this context stresses
the newspaper’s view of the decision as eliminating or at least moderating the
difference between Jew and non-Jew. Another similar lexical choice by the
newspaper in the sub-headline is use of a colloquial term ‘‘hopped over’’. Although
in the text of the decision itself the justices acknowledge the colloquial description
of the process as ‘‘stop-over conversion’’, the use of the verb form ‘‘hopped over’’ in
the sub-headline enhances the derisive tone adopted by the newspaper. The
translation into colloquial language both belittles the process and by implication, the
Fig. 2 Photo of convert andpartner, Haaretz
Clashing Over Conversion 435
123
court’s decision. Moreover, as Fairclough [18, pp. 68–74] has shown, the use of
colloquial language by the newspaper also implicitly claims a relationship of
solidarity with the readers.
An additional element that contributes to the Jewish, as opposed to citizenship
framing of the decision is the side-by-side positioning of two opinion pieces by
religious leaders of the Orthodox and Reform movements under the main story
(Fig. 1). Both pieces are of the same length, and each is accompanied by a passport
sized photo of the Rabbis. The headlines are also parallel and emphasize the
conflicting views of the implication of the decision for the Jewish religion: ‘‘A
death-blow to Judaism’’, and ‘‘A life-saving drug to Judaism’’.24 Here again, it is not
the dispute over citizenship that is stressed, but rather the conflict among the
religious groups. The positioning of the two contrasting views also supports
journalistic claims to objectivity and balance, and deflects from the narrative stance
adopted by the paper.
The contrast between the citizenship frame adopted in Haaretz and the religious
frame that characterizes the coverage in Yedyot is particularly evident in two articles
both top-lined ‘‘Questions and answers’’ that present information about the meaning
and the effect of the decision in the form of queries and responses by an expert. In
Haaretz, the article is headlined ‘‘The application of the decision will await Ministry
of Interior procedures’’.25 The first question is: ‘‘According to the HCJ decision,
does the Minister of Interior have to immediately recognize the conversion of the 17
petitioners, that is to grant them Israeli citizenship and the status of a new
immigrant?’’. In Yediot, on the other hand, the article is headlined: ‘‘On the way to
confirming Reform conversions’’,26 and the first question is: ‘‘Will the state from
now on recognize all conversions that are conducted outside of Israel?’’. In Haaretz,
the question concerns the citizenship rights and benefits that have been denied the
petitioners and are now available to them, while in Yediot the question deals with
the extension of the right of entry to the Jewish religion and people-hood through
conversion abroad. Again, the frames adopted by the newspapers present different
issues as the problematic consequences of the decision.
4.2 The Petitioners
The way the petitioners are described in the two papers, reflects and constructs the
frame that is used. As noted above, in Yediot, the word ‘‘goy’’ is used to describe the
petitioners in both the sub-headline and the text, a term that not only derides
the HCJ decision but emphasizes the status of the petitioners as non-Jews. Haaretz,
by contrast, refers to ‘‘converts’’ or ‘‘petitioners’’, rather than even politically
correct forms of designating non-Jews (i.e., gentiles).
Another feature that constructs the different frames is the way the newspapers
describe the origins of the petition. Yediot introduces the decision as a result of a
‘‘petition submitted 6 years ago by 15 foreigners who were living in Israel and
24 Yediot, 1-4-05, p. 3.25 Haaretz, 1-4-05, p. 3a.26 Yediot, 1-4-05, p. 3.
436 B. Bogoch, Y. Holzman-Gazit
123
requested to convert’’.27 By contrast, Haaretz reports that the precedential decision
has been given in response to a petition by ‘‘17 tourists and licensed foreign workers
who have lived in Israel for many years with temporary [resident] status’’.28 The
version in Haaretz gives legality and official recognition to the petitioners, and
focuses on the temporary status that they have sought to rectify in their petition. In
Yediot, they are foreigners, outsiders who seek to convert and thus gain entry to the
Jewish people.
Two petitioners are singled out for attention by both newspapers: John Alfonzo
from Columbia and Jestina Castro (Chapana)29 from Peru. Yediot chooses to quote
Jestina’s reaction to the decision in line with the religious frame it adopted
throughout the story: ‘‘Now everything is all right, thank God’’. Haaretz chooses to
describe Jestina’s reaction in the following manner:
‘‘I didn’t sleep, I am so excited’’. This is what Jestina Chapana said yesterday
in almost completely perfect Hebrew, moments after the HCJ decision that
determined that she will be recognized as a Jew for the purposes of the Law of
Return. In one moment, by the decision of the court, Chapana was transformed
from the status of a foreigner to the status of a citizen, a Jew, and a new
immigrant.
Again, the role of the court’s decision in granting Israeli citizenship is fore-
fronted. The Court has decided that Jestina can be an Israeli, and the fact that she is
described as speaking fluent Hebrew is a subtle endorsement of the court’s
judgment. A similar pattern emerges in the case of John Alfonzo. For Haaretz, the
impact of the decision for John Alfonzo is that ‘‘Soon, 15 years after he arrived in
Israel, he will officially become a new immigrant’’ (i.e., entitled to Israeli
citizenship). In Yediot he is quoted as saying ‘‘It’s hard to be a Jew but it’s worth it’’.
Thus, both Haaretz and Yediot focus on the petitioners to personalize the decision,
and to demonstrate its importance to specific individuals. However, the language
used to describe the petitioners evinces different meanings about the implications of
the decision for the religion-state debate in Israel.
4.3 Evaluating the Decision
The stance taken by the paper is revealed through a variety of semantic choices and
sequencing strategies. In Yediot, the evaluation of the decision is apparent from the
main article published a day after the decision was delivered. The top-line, the short
heading above the main headline, reads: ‘‘HJC in a decision that stirs up discord:
The Law of Return applies to ‘stop-over’ conversions’’.30 Thus, from the beginning,
the decision is marked as causing disagreement, as conflictual, so that whatever we
27 Yediot, 1-4-05, p. 3.28 Haaretz, 1-4-05, p. 1. There were in fact 15 individual petitioners, but the International Organization
for Progressive Judaism was also listed among the petitioners.29 In the official version of the decision, she was listed as Castro, and that was the name she was given in
Yediot. Haaretz referred to her as Chapana. It is not clear where they obtained that name.30 1-4-05, p. 3.
Clashing Over Conversion 437
123
are told next will be seen in the context of this negative framing. Moreover, opening
the top-line with the HCJ, highlights its role as the agent of the dissent. It would
have been more natural, for example, to say ‘‘A decision by the HCJ stirs up
discord’’. The inversion, commonly used in headlines as an attention getting device
[41], also serves to focus specifically on the HCJ.
While the decision is termed ‘‘dramatic’’ and ‘‘precedential’’ in the opening
article, by and large, there is more space devoted to criticism of the decision than
support of it in Yediot. Of the 13 stories and editorials dealing directly with the
decision in Yediot (excluding those that deal with other conversions or religion-state
issues) four were strongly negative, three strongly positive, and the rest had
elements of both. Interestingly, even the first story, which reported on both majority
and minority opinions as well as reactions by politicians, contained more opinions
that criticized the decision than those that supported it. In fact, the placement of the
opinions supporting the decision as well as their style of expression, seem to belie
the balance created by presenting both types of claims [9]. Thus, the claims of the
State Attorney (against the decision) are presented first, followed by two quotes by
Chief Justice Aharon Barak justifying the decision, closing with a quote from
Justice Proaccia representing the dissenting judges. After the justices, the politicians
are quoted, again first quoting two critical opinions, followed by a politician who
supported the decision, and ending with a politician who criticized it. The story is
arranged in such a way as to legitimate the critical tone adopted in the top-line.
Perhaps inevitably, the critical voices are more colorful than those supporting the
decision. Thus, quotations from the judicial decision are phrased in rational
reasoned language whereas emotional language, exaggerated claims and war-like
metaphors are used in quotes by opposing politicians. For example, Eli Ishay, an
Ultra-Orthodox politician, was quoted as saying it was ‘‘an explosive belt that
caused an identity terrorist attack against the Jewish people. All that is left for the
court to do is to allow conversions by SMS (text messages)’’.31 In the same item,
however, the quote by the single supporting politician that ‘‘the decision has
corrected a historic injustice by recognizing Conservative and Reform conversions’’
was preceded by a description of his opinion as representing ‘‘predictable voices’’.
This preface diminished the force of the politician’s support and moderated the
intensity of the claim.
Another article on the same page was headlined with a quote by the Minister of
Interior that read ‘‘The decision will be implemented as soon as possible’’. The first
sentences report that the Minister of the Interior expressed his satisfaction with the
decision that removed ‘‘unnecessary hardships’’ from those who ‘‘sincerely and
honestly want to be part of the Jewish people’’ and described his intention to
implement it immediately. However, the rest of the article was devoted to fears by
unnamed senior officials who were quoted as saying that the most problematic issue
remains in place, and that is the possibility of the abuse of the rights that the state
31 Yediot, 1-4-05, p. 3.
438 B. Bogoch, Y. Holzman-Gazit
123
grants ‘‘Jews’’ who immigrated to Israel…The decision just exacerbates the
situation for us and increases the number of those kinds of ‘‘Jews’’.32 Here as well,
the unfavorable voices were ‘‘the last word’’ in the article, thus strengthening their
effect.
One theme that recurs in several of the articles in Yediot is the question of the
legitimacy of the court’s intervention in deciding ‘‘Who is a Jew’’ issues. This was
invoked both by those who supported and those who objected to the decision. Thus,
one critical opinion piece in Yediot claimed that: ‘‘It is a little ludicrous and mainly
pretentious, and not because the issue is not within the jurisdiction of the HCJ but
because it is not within the jurisdiction of the state. The HCJ can obligate the state,
but not the Halacha. The state can determine ‘‘who is a Jew’’ just like Egged (the
National Bus Company) can determine who is a doctor’’.33 Another observer who
supported the decision claimed that those who complained about state intervention
in religious issues were the first to mix religion in civil affairs. ‘‘From the moment
that the Rabbis and the religious establishment agreed and even demanded that
Halachic issues become laws, these matters ceased being Halacha and became a
law of the land, a law just like any other law’’.34 Thus in Yediot, not only is the
court’s decision a matter for dispute, but the very legitimacy of the court’s
intervention is debated.
The decision is regarded very differently in Haaretz. Of the 17 news, feature and
editorial articles dealing directly with the decision, nine are positive or very
positive, three are neutral, and only five are negative. Thus the proportion of
negative articles is much lower in Haaretz than in Yediot. Not only is the decision
heralded as ‘‘precedential’’, ‘‘groundbreaking’’, ‘‘courageous’’, but it is also
‘‘categorically Zionist’’. Haaretz’ supportive stance is notable from the start, in
the first front page article reporting the decision. In this article, three elements of the
story are highlighted in a separate frame, with boldface type used on the words: Thedecision, The rationale, The winners. Notably there are no losers in Haaretz’
story. The court’s decision is presented as benefiting ‘‘from hundreds to possibly a
thousand people a year’’, and no one is presented as being negatively affected by it.
The photos accompanying the series of articles on the day of the decision
reinforce this positive evaluation of the decision. In addition to two photos of Chief
Justice Barak and two of the petitioners, five captioned passport-sized photos of
politicians and rabbis accompanied the stories.35 Only one was of a Rabbi who
criticized the decision.
Similarly, both the sources cited and the sequential placement of the sources in
Haaretz’ main article mesh with the general positive view of the decision. Haaretzquoted extensively from the majority opinions of Chief Justice Barak and Justice
32 Yediot, 1-4-05, p. 3. This image of a multitude of foreign workers who are just waiting to abuse the
decision and convert in order to obtain the rights of a citizen was commonly used by those objecting to
the decision.33 Yediot, 8-4-05, Sabbath Supplement, p. 22.34 Yediot, 8-4-05, Sabbath Supplement, p. 13.35 Contrary to commonly held notions, Haaretz, the elite newspaper has more photos than the popular
press, at least on a prominent story such as this one. The difference is in the size of the photos. The main
photo in Yediot takes up more of the page than those in Haaretz.
Clashing Over Conversion 439
123
Heshin, stressing that the decision is in line with the Zionist ethos of the state.
Haaretz’ presentation of the dissenting opinion is also revealing. While both papers
mention the names of the dissenting judges, and refer to the dissenting opinion of
Justice Procaccia, Haaretz places it after comments by two majority justices and
two petitioners, and it is followed by a statement by one of the petitioners, which
closes the article. In other words, the dissenting opinion is ‘‘sandwiched’’ in
between views that support the decision, thus minimizing its force. Moreover the
dissenting opinion is summarized, rather than quoted and is presented as basically
upholding the position taken by the chief justice.
Justice Procaccia agrees that in principle it is possible to recognize the status
of someone who converted outside of Israel even if he is a resident of Israel,
but there should be state supervision of the conversion process to ensure its
validity and procedural soundness.36
Yediot, by contrast, quotes directly from Justice Procaccia’s minority opinion,
adding authority and credibility to the dissent. Moreover, the excerpt chosen by
Yediot as the essence of Justice Proccia’s decision is much more critical of the
conversion process approved by the majority than the version presented by Haaretz.
The conversion can become a cover-up and a procedure that does not reflect a
genuine wish to become a member of the Jewish people, but simply for
instrumental ends’’ wrote Justice Procaccia. ‘‘Conversion in the pluralistic
denominations is easy and convenient, and there is a suspicion that there will
be abuse of this procedure.37
In addition to a lower proportion of opinion pieces that criticize the decision in
Haaretz, two of the five that do so basically support the decision to accept the ‘‘stop-
over’’ conversions yet they take the court to task for not extending the recognition to
other converts. For example, one article claims that
…yesterday also, the HCJ did not take the final step that would mean deciding
that Reform and Conservative conversions that are conducted in Israel grant
citizenship according to the Law of Return.38
Here, the claim is not that the decision to recognize ‘‘stop-over’’ conversions is
mistaken, but rather that the court should also have recognized non-Orthodox
conversions in Israel. Even a critical article by an Orthodox Rabbi does not so much
oppose the decision as it expresses fears about the possibility of future religion-state
decisions by the court.
If the HCJ were to stop at this stage in its journey to minimize the role of the
Chief Rabbinate and the Jewish Halacha in the lives of Jews in the Jewish
36 Haaretz, 1-4-05, p. 2a.37 Yediot, 1-4-05, p. 3.38 Haaretz, 1-4-05, p. 3a.
440 B. Bogoch, Y. Holzman-Gazit
123
State, we, the Jews who still espouse the Halacha and its meanings, could live
with it.39
This writer supports the court’s decision, but worries about the implications of
future rulings of the HCJ that may recognize the validity of non-Orthodox
conversions in Israel and ultimately undermine the status of the Rabbinate as the
religious authority in the Jewish state.
What is unquestioned in both Yediot and Haaretz is the right of religious bodies
to control conversion to Judaism and thus dictate eligibility for Israeli citizenship.
Some claimed that the Orthodox establishment was too strict in their demands for
conversion, and thus praised the decision, while others found fault with the Reform
and Conservative procedures that make conversion too simple. However, the notion
that Judaism and thus citizenship should involve conversion by a religious body was
taken for granted by both newspapers, and by the Supreme Court as well.
5 Discussion and Conclusion
We know that the ordinary activity of the Supreme Court is usually hidden from the
public eye, and that our knowledge of Supreme Court activities is by and large
governed by the press coverage of mainly controversial cases [5, 26, 51]. This study
of the coverage of a particularly contentious religion-state HCJ decision used
various approaches from the linguistic and media analysis of texts to analyze the
messages conveyed by the press about the role and legitimacy of the Supreme
Court, and about the identity of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. Despite the
illusion of journalistic neutrality created by the balance in news reports and the
distribution of opinion pieces, the distinct frames used by each newspaper revealed
different images and evaluations of the court and the law, and projected different
meanings regarding the consequences of the decision.
What then, did the readers of Haaretz learn about the legal issues involved in the
Tushbeim case and the Court’s decision about ‘‘stop-over’’ conversions? Because
the elite newspaper chose to frame the dispute in civic terms, Haaretz readers
learned that first and foremost, the case centered on the question of eligibility to be
recognized as an Israeli citizen. Judaism is treated as a ‘‘front-door key’’ for gaining
the automatic citizenship granted to Jews by the Law of Return, a metaphor that
appears in Justice Barak’s decision and is adopted in the headlines and text by the
newspaper. The civic nature of the controversy is sustained by the limited
representation of the role and legitimacy of the Rabbinate and the focus on basically
two actors in the conflict: the state, which enacted the Law of Return and is unable
to pass an amendment to clarify exactly who is entitled to citizenship, and the Court,
that finally decides on the matter on the basis of equality and the desire of the
petitioners. Haaretz takes for granted the Court’s jurisdiction to decide ‘‘Who is a
Jew’’ and ignores the historical role of the Rabbinate in defining Judaism. Only one
39 Haaretz, 13-4-05, p. 2b.
Clashing Over Conversion 441
123
opinion piece in Haaretz challenged the legitimacy of the court’s intervention by
arguing that a civil court cannot decide matters of religion regulated by religious
laws. Furthermore, Haaretz supports the HCJ for having taken action on an issue
that the political actors sought to avoid. Thus, the HCJ features in the headlines and
in the pictures; supporters of the decision are given prominence in both the reports
and opinion pieces, and the Rabbinate is essentially presented as responsible for the
government’s powerlessness in dealing with the issue.
The favorable image of the HCJ in Haaretz appears even in the few articles that
criticize the Tushbeim decision for ‘‘not going far enough’’. These articles argue that
the Tushbeim ruling rests on strong rationales, yet the HCJ needs to go a step further
and order the recognition of non-Orthodox conversions performed in Israel. In
effect, Haaretz has ‘‘given up’’ on the political process and regards the resolution of
the ‘‘Who is a Jew’’ issue only in terms of future court rulings. The judicial process
is portrayed as superior to the indecisiveness of the Parliament, and the elite
newspaper both endorses the court’s decision and legitimates its role in resolving
the ‘‘Who is a Jew’’ question.
We might have expected that the coverage by the elite press of legal issues would
be more comprehensive than that of the popular press, and that it would present the
full range of views and political implications of an issue as controversial as this one.
While there were more decision-related stories in Haaretz, there was a greater
diversity of views regarding the court’s role in defining Judaism in Yediot. Thus,
within its frame of the controversy as a religious and national issue, the readers of
Yediot were exposed to the problematics of a secular court deciding on the question
of Jewish identity. While acknowledging the implications of Judaism as a key for
automatic Israeli citizenship, Yediot basically adopted a narrative that emphasized
the religious heritage and shared history of the Jewish people that underscored the
struggle to establish Israel as a Jewish state. Addressing the religious and national
dimensions of Judaism, the popular newspaper reported the Tushbeim decision in
colloquial terms that mocked the ‘‘stop-over’’ conversions approved by the court,
and the subsequent blurring of the boundaries between Jews and non-Jews.
Criticism of the court and its ruling was conveyed both by linguistic means, and by
the structure of the articles. Petitioners were portrayed as non-Jews and not as long-
term legal residents of Israel, and the dissenting judgments and criticism by the
Rabbinate were strategically positioned to undermine the case for the decision in
both reports and opinion pieces. Yediot also drew on the theme of the abuse of the
decision by foreign workers to criticize the court for being an irresponsible and
strife-producing institution. The image of the HCJ that was depicted admirably in
Haaretz as an alternative to the weak political system was tempered in Yediot where
voices suggesting that the court may have overstepped its judicial bounds received
greater exposure.
The mass media have become the arena where various social groups, institutions
and ideologies struggle over the definition and construction of social reality [29,
p. 252]. Although we expect that newspapers will expose us to the various sides to a
dispute, we know that issues are defined and framed in such a way as to reinforce
dominant ideologies and power structures [29]. Thus, although Haaretz and Yediotadopted different frames in their coverage of the Tushbeim decision, neither
442 B. Bogoch, Y. Holzman-Gazit
123
newspaper substantially questioned the religious identity of Israeli citizenship. In
both newspapers, the notion that Judaism and thus Israeli citizenship should involve
conversion by a religious body was taken for granted. Virtually no place in the
media discourse about the Tushbeim decision was allotted to ideas that contest the
religious definition of Judaism. Only one article in Haaretz challenged the religious
basis for admission to the Jewish people as the criterion for defining eligibility for
automatic Law of Return citizenship. Thus, what appear to be very different
narratives with divergent evaluations and views of the court ruling in Tushbeim, are
in fact presented within a taken-for-granted schema that endorses the religion-state
compromises that have long been an integral feature of Israeli public discourse. In
their coverage of the Tushbeim case, both Haaretz and Yediot avoided addressing
the basic question of whether religious authorities should control the definition of
the character of Israel as a Jewish State. By ‘‘naming the contest’’ [43, p. 529] as it
does, and evading a challenge to this basic question, the media in effect support
hegemonic values of the Jewish majority and define the terms of the struggle over
Israel’s Jewish identity within consensual boundaries.
Acknowledgments We would like to thank the Department of Interdisciplinary Social Science Studies
of Bar Ilan University, and the School of Law of the College of Management for their support of this
project. We would also like to thank Sharon Avital for her efficient assistance in locating and collecting
the articles.
References
1. Baer, Noah. 1971. Who is a Jew? A determination of ethnic status for purposes of the Israeli
Population Registry Act: Shalit v Minister of the Interior (Israel 1969). Columbia Journal ofTransnational Law 10: 133–149.
2. Baird, Vanessa, and Amy Gangl. 2006. Shattering the myth of legality: The impact of the media’s
framing of Supreme Court procedures on perceptions of fairness. Political Psychology 27: 597–614.
3. Barak, Gregg. 2007. Mediatizing law and order: Applying Cottle’s architecture of communicative
frames to the social construction of crime and justice. Crime, Media, Culture 3: 101–109.
4. Ben-Rafael, Eliezer. 2002. Jewish identities: Fifty intellectuals answer Ben-Gurion. Leyden and
Boston: Brill.
5. Bogoch, Bryna, and Yifat Holzman-Gazit. 2008. Mutual bonds: Media frames and the Israeli High
Court of Justice. Law and Social Inquiry 33: 53–87.
6. Brown, Sheila. 2003. Crime and law in media culture. Buckingham: Open University Press.
7. Clawson, Rosalee A., Harry C. Strine, and Eric Waltenburg. 2003. Framing Supreme Court deci-
sions: The mainstream versus the black press. Journal of Black Studies 33: 784–800.
8. Davis, Richard. 1994. Decisions and images: The Supreme Court and the press. Englewood Cliffs:
N.J. Prentice Hall.
9. Deacon, David, Michael Pickering, Peter Golding, and Graham Murdock. 1999. Researching com-munications: A practical guide to methods in media and cultural analysis. London: Arnold.
10. de Vreese, Claes H. 2005. News framing: Theory and typology. Information Design Journal 13: 51–62.
11. Edelman, Lauren B., Stephen E. Abraham, and Howard S. Erlanger. 1992. Professional construction
of the legal environment: The inflated threat of wrongful discharge. Law & Society Review 26: 47–83.
12. Eisenstadt, Samuel N. 1981. Cultural traditions and political dynamics. British Journal of Sociology32: 151–181.
13. Englard, Izhak. 1985. Law and religion in Israel. American Journal of Comparative Law 35: 185–208.
14. Entman, Robert M. 2004. Projections of power: Framing news, public opinion and U.S. foreignpolicy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Clashing Over Conversion 443
123
15. Entman, Robert M. 1993. Framing: Toward clarification of a fractured paradigm. Journal of Com-munication 43: 51–58.
16. Ericson, Richard V. 1995. Crime and the media. Dartmouth: Aldershot.
17. Ewick, Patricia, and Susan Silbey. 1998. The common place of law: Stories from everyday life.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
18. Fairclough, Norman. 1995. Media discourse. London: Edward Arnold.
19. Friedman, Lawrence M. 1989. Law, lawyers and popular culture. Yale Law Journal 98: 1570–1606.
20. Foust, Christina, William Murphy and Chelsea Stow. 2008. Global warming and apocalyptic rhetoric:
A critical frame analysis of U.S. popular and elite press coverage from 1997–2007. Paper presented at
the annual meeting of the NCA 94th annual convention, TBA, San Diego, CA, Nov 20, 2008.
http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p260125_index.html. Accessed 25 March 2009.
21. Galanter, Marc. 2006. Lowering the bar: Lawyer jokes and legal culture. Madison: University of
Wisconsin Press.
22. Gamson, William A., and Andre Modigliani. 1989. Media discourse and public opinion on nuclear
power: A constructionist approach. American Journal of Sociology 95: 1–37.
23. Gavison, Ruth. 1985. The controversy over Israel’s bill of rights. Israel Yearbook of Human Rights151: 113–154.
24. Gies, Lieve. 2008. Law and the media: The future of an uneasy relationship. London: Routledge-
Cavendish.
25. Gillespie, Marie, and Jason Toynbee. 2006. Analyzing media texts. Maidenhead: Open University
Press.
26. Haltom, William. 1998. Reporting on the courts: How the mass media cover judicial actions.
Chicago: Nelson-Hall Publishers.
27. Haltom, William, and Michael McCann. 2004. Distorting the law: Politics, media and the litigationcrisis. Chicago: Chicago University Press.
28. Hazony, Yoram. 2000. The Jewish state: The struggle for Israel’s soul. New York: Basic Books.
29. Johnson-Cartee, Karen S. 2005. News narratives and news framing: Constructing political reality.
Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
30. Kamir, Orit. 2005. Why ‘‘law-and-film’’ and what does it actually mean?—A perspective. Contin-uum: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies 19: 255–278.
31. Keinon, Herb. 1998. The panel recommendations. Jerusalem Post, 25 January, page 1.
32. Kremnitzer, Mordechai, and Margit Cohen. 2005. Religion and the HCJ: Image and reality. Part two.A three-dimensional model for measuring judicial activism. Jerusalem: Israel Democracy Institute.
(Hebrew).
33. Lahav, Pnina. 2000. Judgment in Jerusalem: Chief Justice Simon Agranat and the Zionist century.
Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.
34. Liebman, Charles S. 1997. Religion, democracy and Israeli society. Amsterdam: Harwood.
35. Litvin, Baruch, and Sidney B. Hoenig (ed.). 1970. Jewish identity: Modern response and opinions onthe registration of children of mixed marriages: David Ben-Gurion’s query to leaders of worldJewry—A documentary compilation. Jerusalem: Feldheim.
36. Matthes, Jorg, and Matthias Kohring. 2008. The content analysis of media frames: Toward improving
reliability and validity. Journal of Communication 58: 258–279.
37. Mooney, Annabelle. 2002. Human rights, linguistics and the law: The U.K. and beyond. Interna-tional Journal for the Semiotics of Law 15: 389–398.
38. Nesis, Lawrence. 1970. Who is a Jew? Manitoba Law Journal 4: 53–88.
39. Nielsen, Laura Beth, and Aaron Beim. 2004. Media misrepresentations: Title VII, print media and
public perceptions of discrimination litigation. Stanford Law and Policy Review 15: 101–130.
40. Nir, Raphael, and Itzhak Roeh. 1992. Intifada coverage in the Israeli press: Popular and quality
papers assume a rhetoric of conformity. Discourse & Society 3: 47–60.
41. Nir, Raphael. 1994. Discourse analysis of news headlines. Hebrew Linguistics 37: 23–31. (Hebrew).
42. Nobles, Robert, and Donald Schiff. 2000. Understanding miscarriages of justice: Law, the media,and the inevitability of crisis. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
43. Parenti, Michael. 1970. Power and politics: A view from the bottom. Journal of Politics 32: 501–530.
44. Redhead, Stephen. 1995. Unpopular cultures: The birth of law and popular culture. Manchester:
Manchester University Press.
45. Reese, Stephen D. 2007. The framing project: A bridging model for media research revisited. Journalof Communication 57: 148–154.
444 B. Bogoch, Y. Holzman-Gazit
123
46. Rosen, Robert Eli. 1990. Liberal battle zones and the study of law and the media. Law and HumanBehavior 14: 511–521.
47. Rubinstein, Amnon. 1967. State and religion in Israel. Journal of Contemporary History 2: 107–121.
48. Sapir, Gideon. 2006. How should the court deal with a primary question that the legislature seeks to
avoid: The Israeli controversy over who is a Jew as an illustration. Vanderbilt Journal of Trans-national Law 39: 1233–1302.
49. Sarat, Austin, and Jonathan Simon. 2003. Cultural analysis, cultural studies and the situation of legal
scholarship. In Cultural analysis, cultural studies and the law: Moving beyond legal realism, ed.
Austin Sarat, and Jonathan Simon, 1–34. Durham: Duke University Press.
50. Sarat, Austin, and Stuart Scheingold. 2008. The cultural lives of cause lawyers. Cambridge: Cam-
bridge University Press.
51. Sauvageau, Florian, David Schneiderman, and David Taras. 2006. The last word: Media coverage ofthe Supreme Court of Canada. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press.
52. Sherwin, Richard K. 2000. When law goes pop: The vanishing line between law and popular culture.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
53. Silbey, Jessica. 2002. What we do when we do law and popular culture. Law and Social Inquiry 27:
139–167.
54. Simon, Adam F., and Michael Xenos. 2000. Media framing and effective public deliberation.
Political Communication 17: 363–376.
55. Slotnick, Elliot E., and Jennifer A. Segal. 1998. Television news and the Supreme Court: All the newsthat’s fit to air. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
56. Stern, Yedidia Z. 2003. Facing painful choices: Law and halakhah in Israeli society. Position paper.
Jerusalem: Israel Democracy Institute.
57. Surette, Ray. 1998. Media crime and justice, 2nd ed. Belmont, CA: West/Wadsworth.
58. Tankard, James W. 2001. The empirical approach to the study of media framing. In Framing publiclife: Perspectives on media and our understanding of the social world, ed. Stephen Reese, Oscar
Gandy, and August E. Grant, 95–106. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
59. Taras, David. 2000. Mass media reporting of Canadian Supreme Court decisions: Mapping the
terrain. Canadian Journal of Communication 25. http://www.cjc-online.ca/viewarticle.php?id=589
&layout=html. Accessed July 2006.
60. Van Dijk, Teun A. 1988. News as discourse. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
61. Van Dijk, Teun A. 1988. News analysis. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Cases Cited
62. H.C. Shalit v. Minister of Interior, 23 (1) P.D. 447, translated at Selected Judgments of the Supreme
Court of Israel, Special Volume, 35 (1971).
63. H.C. 1031/93 Eliana Pessaro v. Minister of Interior, 49 (4) P.D. 49, abridged in Jewish law Asso-
ciation Studies (2000).
64. HC 5070/95 Naamat v. Minister of Interior, 56 (2) PD 721. Abridged in 31 Justice, pp. 37–42 (2202).
65. HC 2597/99 Tushbeim v. Minister of Interior (ruling given on 31.5.2004).
Clashing Over Conversion 445
123