Every time I’ve personally heard or read about Israel Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman, I’ve been impressed with this worldly, intellectual figure who has strived to reach across his nation’s divides.

The modern Orthodox Neeman advised both Prime Ministers Menachem Begin in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and then Binyamin Netanyahu in the 1990s and now again as Finance Minister.

In 1997, Netanyahu tapped Neeman when the “conversion crisis” ruptured both the Knesset and Israel-Diaspora ties. Neeman came up with a plausible option of conversion courts (aimed mostly at helping Russians in Israel). They were run by representatives of various Jewish streams and the final testing was by state-paid Orthodox rabbis. In Israel, that’s real progress.

Throughout, Mr. Neeman – a professor of law—has been measured, reflective and filled with integrity. So his remarks last week were stunning. At a Jewish law conference, he announced that “Step by step, we will bestow upon the citizens of Israel the laws of the Torah, and we will turn halachah into the binding law of the nation. We must bring back the heritage of our fathers to the nation of Israel. The Torah has the complete solution to all of the questions we are dealing with.” (Check out the Jerusalem Post article: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1260181017325&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull .)

After an uproar, Mr. Neeman’s office tried to clarify the remarks by saying that the talk “did not contain an appeal to replace the state’s laws with the laws of halachah, neither directly nor indirectly. The minister spoke in general and broad terms about returning the glory of Hebrew law and the importance of Hebrew law in the state.”

One hopes that is the case, but we must criticize any attempt to mandate observance, a method that is ineffective and creates tremendous dissent. Look East to Iran for Example # 1 of what happens when you push a middle class-based democracy into a dysfunctional theocracy.

The State of Israel, as defined by its Declaration of Independence, is a “Jewish democracy,” an admittedly amorphous concept. There should be a healthy debate about how to integrate halachah’s general principles – what we’ll call “Jewish ethics”—into Israeli law. After all, those principles form the backbone of what we consider enlightened legislation and are applied in this country as well. However, in a democracy built on pluralism – despite the inherent tensions – religious authorities cannot determine the legal system. 

That’s one of many messages that we American Jews from across the spectrum can help import to Israel, which could make a dent in creating a more tolerant Israeli society.