TEL AVIV – In years of going against Israel’s religious and political mainstream, Rabbi Gilad Kariv has learned to handle conflict.
He has argued controversial civil rights cases before Israel’s Supreme Court. And as an activist, he has lobbied at the Knesset, the 120-seat parliament for a country facing its fourth election in two years.
So after locking up a spot that put him on the brink of joining the Knesset, it did not rock Kariv's world when powerful Orthodox lawmakers responded by threatening to boycott him.
The 47-year-old lawyer and father of three is poised next week to become the first Reform movement rabbi to hold a seat in parliament, a political ascent that marks a key victory for religious pluralism in Israel and for the