On issues relating to Jewish identity in Israel, Diaspora Jews are not only entitled but are obliged to be party to discussions.

However, the current upheaval over the proposed Rotem conversion legislation has limited bearing on Diaspora or American Jews as it relates only to conversions here.

Ironically however, the brouhaha from US Conservative and Reform groups – while based on false premises – had a positive impact, forcing the government to at least temporarily postpone the legislation.

There was one brief moment in 1998 when current Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman came close to achieving a consensual agreement for conversions that would have been consistent both with Halacha and accommodating the major requirements of the Conservative and Reform Jewish organizations.

Despite being a frequent critic of intrusive and contentious High Court judgments, I commend the recent ruling that the government terminate discriminatory funding to the only sector of society which rejects national service and the majority of whose adherents disdain gainful employment. If not for our dysfunctional political system enabling one-dimensional haredi political parties to extort funds exclusively on behalf of their constituents, such a situation could never have arisen.

And in the long term, the High Court ruling could avert the more explosive looming confrontation which will inevitably erupt as the burden on taxpayers financing the increasing number of unemployed haredim becomes economically untenable.

Jerusalem, referred to over 600 times in the Bible, has represented the cornerstone of our Jewish identity for more than three millennia since it became the capital of King David’s Israelite monarchy. It remained at the core of our spiritual longings following the second dispersion when for 2,000 years our forefathers faced Jerusalem in their daily prayers, yearning for a return to their ancestral homeland. Moreover, even throughout their exile, Jews retained a significant presence in their Holy City and since the 1840s have constituted the largest group inhabiting the city.

Jerusalem also has major religious significance for Christians and Muslims, both of whom denied freedom of worship to other religions when they ruled over the city. During the Jordanian control of the Old City from 1948 to 1967, in flagrant breach of armistice agreements, Jews were refused all access to holy sites, and synagogues and graveyards were desecrated and destroyed. And the world remained silent.