President Katsav is pushing forward his idea for a Jewish parliament that would include Jews from all over the world.
(Jerusalem Post correspondent Greer Fay Cashman makes certain to mention in her report that two Jews have three opinions between them. Nice use of an overused cliche. You really caught me off guard with that one.)
But back to the idea of a Jewish parliament. Despite calls for such a body to include unrepresented and younger Jewish voices, it would probably end up as another bloated body of wealthy Diaspora Jews, perhaps younger, who buy their way onto various boards of Jewish organizations through their generous donations - generosity they seldom keep secret.
On the other hand, the religious powers in Israel would certainly oppose the creation of any such body because it could Reform and Conservative Judaism gain wider acceptance here and threaten the existing Orthodox monopoly on conversion, marriage and the 'Who is a Jew?' debate.
It's also interesting to note how Katsav laments the high rate of intermarriage in the U.S. and Europe, as if Israel has demonstrated such adroit handling of its own social problems related to Jewish issues (Anybody try to get a marriage license from the Rabbinical Council lately? That's a lot of fun.) that it is equipped to help the Diaspora.
