The national homeland of the (Orthodox) Jews

Shas's Minister for Religious Services Yaakov Margi wants to enact legislation that will in effect mean that only Orthodox Jewry will have a place in Israel. http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishNews/Article.aspx?id=214096

Speaking in the Knesset last week at a ceremony marking 90 years to the Chief Rabbinate, Margi called for determining by law “that there are no streams in Judaism, only one that has been passed down to us from generation to generation.”

Thankfully, the Jewish Agency thinks this is a bad idea.

“We were saddened to read reports suggesting that some MKs and at least one minister have called for outlawing the non-Orthodox streams in Israel and transforming the Israeli rabbinate through Knesset legislation into the “supreme” authority for the Jewish people everywhere,” spokesman for the agency Haviv Gur said on Sunday.
“Any talk of legislation that ‘outlaws’ branches of Judaism is harmful, divisive and reflects a lack of understanding of the religious culture and institutions of the Jewish Diaspora,” he said.
“Such a divisive initiative goes against Israel’s historic duty and responsibility to build and maintain strong ties with the Jewish world,” Gur added.