Legislation on religious conversion in Israel has become a hot-button issue, pitting its Knesset sponsors against leaders of the Reform and Conservative Movements in the United States.  The bill, narrowly approved in a preliminary committee vote, would make it easier for hundreds of thousands of Soviet Jewish émigrés to get recognition as certified Jews, but it also would give Israel's Orthodox Chief Rabbinate the final say on conversions in Israel.  The latter provision is anathema to the Reform and Conservative streams of American Jewry.To preserve Jewish unity in Israel and abroad, Prime Minister Netanyahu has managed to halt further action on the legislation for six months, while a panel of Orthodox, Reform and Conservative officials try to hammer out a compromise.  Pending such an outcome, Netanyahu already has made it clear that the bill, in its present form, will not pass the Knesset.That's how things stand now.  But not at the New York...(Read Full Post)